A deadly fire killed a grandmother and four of her grandchildren in northeast Baltimore early Thursday morning. A baby thrown from a window is said to be doing well. A man who jumped out a second floor window is doing not so well. He's currently in critical condition.
A Baltimore City firefighter fell through the second floor into the basement of the house while fighting the fire. It was a long drop but my sources tell me his injuries are non-life-threatening and he's expected to be fine.
In a second, unrelated fire which occurred on the 1400 block of Bonsal St, a Baltimore fire lieutenant suffered severe third degree burns to numerous parts of his body. He's currently being treated at Bayview Burn Unit. Ironically, Baltimore Fire Company Squad 11, now disbanded, used to be based at Bayview. They would have been the second company due on this fire.
Both fires were about an hour apart. Emergency two-way radio audio of fire units on the scene can be hear here.
Also, the president of the Baltimore Firefighers Union, Local 734 expressed concern the department is being asked to do too much with too little.
Civil Rights Leader And Long Serving Lawmaker Clarence Mitchell III Has Died Popular talk show host C4 shared heartfelt thoughts and memories of his father, you can listen to it here.
Former state Senator Clarence M. Mitchell III, was a cofounder of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). He also worked closely with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. His biography is far too vast to do justice in this space.
Baltimore Police
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| Police Commissioner Anthony Batts, the man with a plan. |
Secondly, in his first announced official major change to the department, the rank of Deputy Major has been batted away and will be replaced with the rank of Captain. For some odd reason, the sinking ship that is Baltimore Police has been without a captain for a long, long time.
Also, Fenton says via twitter, at a meeting today, before Batts came to Baltimore, thanks to google alerts he thought it was an absolute, out of control, hell-hole, cesspool crime pit, but now that he's here he's pleased crime seems to be going down.
Effective today, PC Batts has reinstated appointed rank of Captain within BPD. Dep Majors will now be known as Captainspic.twitter.com/hb2VLOwI
