As family mourns those lost in Highlandtown house fire, a community rallies to help

Knowing the Gutierrez family had lost everything in the fire on East Lombard Street, a teacher from a Highlandtown community school brought framed school portraits of Yeymi and Angel, the 13-year-old and 8-year-old who died. She also had a beaded bracelet that Yeymi had made for her, reading “Mis Mariana” with a heart between the words. She gave it to Elida Gutierrez Gomez, their mother.

It all sits on an altar now, next to a Bible opened to Psalm 90 — The Night Prayer — a tiara and a Mickey Mouse cap, flowers and candles. They’re the only mementos the family has left.

Baltimore City firefighters responded to a call in the early hours of the morning Feb. 27. The fire grew rapidly, taking over four rowhomes on the 3400 block of East Lombard Street. Angel Gustavo Adolfo Paz Gutierrez, a “baby boy” who loved the ocean, was pronounced dead at the scene. Yeymi Rubi Gutierrez Paz, who loved to dance, and 22-year-old Jeremías Gutierrez Gomez died within days after being taken to the hospital.

‘When tragedy strikes, we rally’

On the renter-dominated block, many of the families of Lombard Street are from Central America and have younger children. Demographics in Baltimore’s Highlands neighborhood have changed drastically in the past decade, going from an aging part of town to having a zoned elementary school that is overcrowded. It’s an area in Southeast Baltimore that is more disinvested, community organizers said, with trash and recycling bins accumulating by the steps of the rowhomes on Lombard Street.

It’s also a neighborhood marked by community and collaboration in times of adversity.

The first person there was Councilman Zeke Cohen, who woke up about an hour after the fire with a call from the fire chief.

“I’ve been on a lot of these scenes in the last years,” he said. “And I think this was the most heartbreaking.”

Baltimore City Fire Department said 19 people were displaced and four homes were affected by the fire. There were no working smoke alarms in the building where people died, fire department officials said.

City officials, including Cohen, Mayor Brandon Scott and Councilmember Odette Ramos, were in the neighborhood Saturday morning. Scott said he wanted “every single family, every single household” to establish a home evacuation plan and have smoke detectors.

”We don’t want to ever do this again,” Scott said.

Staff from the mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement and the Baltimore City Health Department were there, as were community organizers and members of the Red Cross.

Mark Parker, a pastor at Breath of God Church, and Lucia Islas, a community organizer, walked up the street that same morning. A mother from Honduras sat crying on the sidewalk, Islas said, worried about what to do for her daughter’s upcoming fourth birthday. She would help her figure it out, Islas promised the woman.

Another man, who was on the second floor of one of the rowhomes, told her he had to jump from the stairs, knowing that, if he didn’t, he would die in the fire. He tried to take his phone with him, he told Islas, but it exploded. Parker worked to get cellphones.

And from there came the text thread that included Catalina Rodriguez-Lima, the director of the mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, Lydia Walther-Rodriguez from CASA and Susana Barrios, a community organizer. Rodriguez-Lima was going to make sure residents were aware of resources such as rental assistance. Walther-Rodriguez was going to look for housing. Barrios was going to contact the Embassy of Guatemala.

“What’s beautiful about our community,” Cohen said, “is that, when tragedy strikes, we rally, and I think we will continue to see leaders coming together to support each other.”

Cohen’s role was to reach out to Mark Mason, associate director of victim services in the mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement, to help secure funding for funeral costs.

The American Red Cross response was essential, too, Islas said. Rey Vega, with the Red Cross, facilitated counseling services for families. Spokesperson Ashley Henyan said Red Cross volunteer team members will continue to work with those impacted by the fire, providing food, water, emotional support and other resources. She says they have helped about 35 people.

Islas, Barrios and Parker sat and listened that morning. They didn’t ask the families many questions about what happened. They told them they didn’t have to say anything they didn’t feel comfortable with to the Red Cross. They acted as interpreters for the families.

Neighbors stepped in, too. Some gave boxes so families could store what they had salvaged from the fire. One let a family stay at their Airbnb free for a few days. People have reached out to them asking how they could help, Parker said. They’ve offered clothes, furniture, food.

They need permanent housing first. Parker, who is running to represent the district in City Council, is collecting donations through his church. He will help the family look for housing.

An official from the department of housing visited the Gutierrez family Friday. They were working to see if they could provide them with rental assistance that would cover the family for one to three months.

Marvin Gutierrez Gomez, Elida’s brother who has been taking care of the family, weighed in. His sister might need more time to heal, he said, and he wanted the family to stay together. They asked then if there was a time limit to accept help, and the official told them there was no rush.

An ongoing investigation

One woman who lives across the street from the Gutierrez family said she woke up to the sound of an explosion. As she looked at the window, fire seemed to have erupted in the front door.

Firefighters are investigating the cause of the fire. The rental license for the rowhome where the Gutierrez family lived expired in November. The other houses impacted by the fire are current on their licenses. There were no building violations recorded with the Baltimore department of housing and community health before the fire.

Kevin Agahi managed the rowhome where the Gutierrez Family lived. He owns 25 other properties in the neighborhood, of which 11 were cited for trash accumulation, according to Baltimore Highlands Community Plan. A tenant took Agahi to court for rental escrow in 2014, but the case was dismissed.

“Improving this company’s property management practices would benefit both their tenants and their neighbors,” the plan read.

Elida wrapped herself in a pink and red blanket, sitting on her brother Marvin’s couch. She and her brother Hector Gutierrez Gomez, who lived with her, her children and nephew, had been staying with Marvin for the past few days. Barrios and Islas, community organizers, sat to her left on the couch. More advocates pulled chairs in a circle, and Parker, the pastor, was there too.

Days before, many of the people surrounding her had been strangers. They looked at her attentively. She showed them videos of Angel, who never liked taking photos. In one video, he waved goodbye. In the other, he was crying. The caption read that he was pretending to have died.

She showed them her teenage daughter Yeymi, who loved to dance. She asked her mother to join one video, which read “Te amo mami.”

Elida cried. Her brother Hector, sitting next to her, sobbed — for them, for the children, for his 22-year-old nephew one year his junior who was raised like his brother.

Originally from San Pedro Pinula in Guatemala, Elida and her siblings, Marvin and Hector, traveled to Baltimore at different times in the past five years, trying their luck at better work. Elida worked days and nights for a year to get the means to bring her daughter and son to the U.S. They were hoping to bring more family members to the city, little by little.

Elida initially lived with Marvin and his brother-in-law. Then came Hector, and he and Elida moved to a rowhouse nearby. When Jeremías arrived with Yeymi and Angel, they began to look for a bigger place. They found the house on Lombard Street within walking distance of where Marvin and the rest of the family lived and moved there in July of last year.

Angel and Yeymi attended Highlandtown Elementary/Middle School No. 237, while Jeremías, Hector, Marvin and Elida went to work. Jeremías had a child, too, a 2-year-old girl he left in Guatemala, and was in charge of taking care of his two sisters and brother. Jeremías’ mother died a while ago, Elida said.

Marvin liked to stop by their house before leaving for work to see his niece. He asked her about the tortillas she made by hand.

“They are coming,” she would say. Yeymi was a strong girl who took care of her brother and herself.

Hector, who is 23, liked to take the children out to eat. He amused his niece and nephew by participating in their videos for TikTok. Hector hung out with Jeremías, too. They played on the same soccer team and were champions of their league in 2020. Jeremias was a strong but playful player.

“And was he good?” Barrios asked.

“I was the only one who could score a goal against him,” Hector joked. Yeymi played soccer too — with her friends, though, not in a league.

“But that is how it starts,” Barrios commented.

Islas held Elida’s hand. Elida was a single mother for many years, and Islas knew what that was like.

“You did a great job,” Islas said, as Elida teared up. “You did everything you could do as mother.

Elida said she didn’t reach her goals. She could not always provide for them.

“Yes, you did,” Islas said. “You say you didn’t reach your goals, but your goal was to bring them to the U.S.”

She did what she could, Islas said. The rest wasn’t her fault.

Baltimore Banner staff writer Cody Boteler contributed to this story.

Clara Longo de Freitas

clara.longo@thebaltimorebanner.com

Clara Longo de Freitas is a neighborhood reporter covering East Baltimore communities. Before joining the Banner, she interned at The Baltimore Sun as an emerging news and community reporter. She also has design and illustration experience with several news organizations, including The Hill and NPR.

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