Fatal Fire in Northeast Baltimore Investigated as Arson: Police

Baltimore Police say homicide detectives are investigating a fire in northeast Baltimore Friday morning as arson.

Police said the blaze occurred in the 5200 block of Frankford Avenue.

When crews were dispatched to the fire at 3:30 a.m. Friday, they found people hanging out windows trying to escape the burning building, where a woman was found dead in an apartment, according to Fox 45.

Within 30 minutes, the TV station reported the fire was under control.

One woman died, six people were rescued, seven families were displaced and one person was hospitalized as a result of the blaze, which may have begun on the second or third floor of the building, ABC 2 News reported.

Frankford Avenue was closed between Omaha Avenue and Sinclair Lane for the investigation, according to ABC.

Evidence at the apartment complex made it “apparent and obvious” to investigators that the fire was an arson, Baltimore Police spokesman T.J. Smith told The Baltimore Sun. Homicide detectives were investigating.