A rowhouse fire claimed the life of an elderly man Thursday morning in West Baltimore, according to a city Fire Department spokesman.
The blaze broke out about 5 a.m. in the middle-of-group home in the 2000 block of N. Smallwood St. in the Mondawmin neighborhood, said Chief Kevin Cartwright, the spokesman.
Firefighters quickly extinguished the blaze, which was confined to two rooms on the second floor of the two-story brick house, he said.
A search-and-rescue team found the man's body. Neighbors said the man, who has not been identified by fire officials, was in his early 70s, according to Cartwright.
Fire officials were working to determine the cause and investigating whether working smoke alarms were present in the house, Cartwright said.
Eugene Robinson, a neighbor who said he was a cousin of the victim, said the man was generous to children in the community and worked hard to keep the neighborhood clean.
He had built short picket fences around trees on the block and would often eat breakfast while sitting in white patio chairs in front of houses on the other side of the street - the shady side, Robinson said.
