A Baltimore man found his brother’s charred body in his warehouse Sunday morning — 10 hours after the fire department extinguished a fire inside the building but did not investigate whether there were any casualties.
Donte Craig found his brother, James Craig, at the top of the stairs leading to the second floor of the two-story building the victim used as a workshop for his demolition and trucking business.
“I don’t know if it was dark, but if they had looked there, they would have seen his body,” Donte. This was reported by CBS Baltimore. “I want to know what stopped them from getting in there.”
Fire department spokesman Blair Adams said firefighters initially entered the building to fight the fire from the inside, but were evacuated after the commander noticed “some visual signs of structural instability.”
“There was no reason to believe there was anybody inside,” Adams said.
Firefighters told CBS they initially believed the building was vacant, despite the fact that it was leased to James.
The Craig family finds the department answers and claims there are signs of life inside the building. Six dogs spent the night in a fence adjacent to the building, all of which were rescued by firefighters and taken to an animal shelter.
James often spent the night in a second-floor bedroom, the family said.
The Craigs heard about the fire shortly after it broke out at around 11.30pm on Saturday and tried to call James. After not hearing from James all night, Donte decided to look for his older brother himself.
Donte said he climbed the metal stairs to the second floor and found his brother at the top of the stairs.
He questioned why firefighters did not make similar efforts.
“He wanted out,” Donte said.
“They have a lot to answer for,” said father James Craig, “Why couldn’t they go up a ladder? “Maybe my son will live.”
Baltimore police have opened a homicide investigation, and the arson unit is also investigating the case.
Details on the department’s response to a vacant house fire in January that killed three firefighters came two days after Baltimore Fire Chief Niles Ford resigned. two days after the report was published, the error occurred.
With post wires
.