Reservoir Hill blaze claims life of woman

A single-alarm fire last night in Reservoir Hill claimed the life of an elderly woman and sent her husband to a hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation, said a spokesman for the city Fire Department. The woman's name was not released.

In addition, a 10-year-old boy with asthma and his mother were forced to seek temporary shelter. Neither was injured.

The cause of the fire, which seriously damaged the upper floor of the two-story home, is under investigation.

Reported about 7:35 p.m., the fire apparently began in the rear second floor of a house in the middle of a group of homes in the 2100 block of Mount Royal Terrace near the North Avenue exit ramp from the Jones Falls Expressway, said Division Chief Jeffrey Segal. The first floor of the brick dwelling was damaged by smoke and water.

Segal said that while firefighters battled the blaze from the front and the alley, others entered the house and rescued the man and the woman from a smoke-filled second-floor front room.

Chief Kevin Cartwright, a Fire Department spokesman, said the woman suffered severe burns to her respiratory system and went into cardiac arrest. She died at Maryland General Hospital.

He said the fatality was the city's second fire-related death this year. The man, believed to be her husband, was taken to Maryland Shock Trauma Center and was treated for smoke inhalation.

Segal said the boy and his mother were treated at the scene and released.