Robinwood fire sends 5 to the hospital

A public housing unit was destroyed yesterday morning by a two-alarm fire that tore through the building, city fire officials said.

Firefighters were called to the 1300 block of Tyler Avenue in Robinwood at about 11 a.m. By the time they arrived, all seven people inside the home at the time made it out safely, some with the assistance of neighbors, officials said.

Two people were treated on the scene for minor injuries and five others were taken to Anne Arundel Medical Center for minor smoke inhalation, said Lt. Dale Thompson of the Annapolis Fire Department.

Two people were helped out of the home by a next-door neighbor, he said. The man was sitting outside the home next door when the fire broke out.

He said he went inside to alert the people on the ground floor and also assisted a woman and her child out of a second-story window onto the porch roof, Lt. Thompson said.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation and officials said the unit is a total loss.

In addition, the unit next door was ruled uninhabitable because of water and smoke damage, Lt. Thompson said.

Eric Brown, executive director of the Annapolis Housing Authority, said at this point he does not plan to demolish the unit, but the authority will need to do repairs there.

The Red Cross is helping both the family in the building that was on fire and the one next door that was closed.

This morning the short block was quiet and the strip of buildings sat empty. The front of the home was blackened and some pieces of siding appeared to have melted in the fire.

Neighbors said a woman and her four children live in the house, and that another woman and her child were there visiting for the weekend.

Nathan Smith, who lives around the corner, said one of the children came knocking on his door to come out after the fire started.

"By the time we even got around the corner, the windows were busting out," he said.

The fire spread quickly, he said. At one point firefighters told them to get out of the house, because all the units are connected.

"It could have spread all over," Mr. Smith said.

Saundra Martin said she came out when she heard the fire trucks. She said she was close friends with the unit owner's mother and was concerned.

"I was scared for her and her children...," she said. "My main concern was, are she and the children OK?"

Sydonia Samuels came out of her nearby house and saw the smoke bellowing out.

"It was like something out of a movie," she said.

She said she is friends with the woman who lives there and was concerned for the woman and her children.

The woman's oldest son was visibly upset.

"He kind of just broke down ... He was just sobbing," Ms. Samuels said.

She said she's happy everyone made it out safely, though the possessions were ruined.

"They're just things, they can be replaced," she said.