During the Friday morning traffic rush, Candis Johnson made a stop by East Lombard Street to place a sign and flower in front of a charred, burned out home.
“My daughter went to school with the eight-year old. She was kind of like a mentor to him. She helped him with his homework in an after-school program and she was really close to him. She knew the sister as well… when I told her she just kind of broke down,” said Johnson. Her daughter made the memorial. The poster features the face of a unicorn, with its eyes closed in tranquility. It says, “RIP.”
Three people, all new arrivals from Guatemala, died as a result of injuries sustained from a Tuesday morning rowhome fire. Two were siblings: an eight-year old boy and a thirteen year-old girl. The other victim, a 22-year-old man, was their cousin. He leaves behind a young daughter in Guatemala, said Susana Barrios with Latino Racial Justice.
Barrios has been working alongside Lucia Islas from Comite Latina, another nonprofit, and together they’ve worked with a collection of city agencies to support the surviving family members and other displaced families. In total, five row houses were damaged so badly that they needed to be evacuated. Around 28 people were displaced, said Mark Parker with Breath of God Lutheran Church in Highlandtown. Parker’s church is also assisting recovery efforts.
There are countless tasks to be done – made more complicated by needing to work with overseas agencies – but Barrios has one priority above all.
“I’m just here for them, to give them a hug whenever they need it,” said Barrios.
But Barrios and Islas said that everything about an already tragic and difficult situation reveals how vulnerable new immigrant communities can be: from language access to a lack of familiarity with local services and an empty social network.
Housing, they said, is one area where people are especially vulnerable.
When new arrivals come to the United States, families often crowd-in together.
“When you get to this country, you don't have money, you're gonna be [living] with your family, with your friends, and that's okay. There's nothing bad about that,” said Islas.
The cause of the Lombard Street fire is still under investigation and a spokesperson from the city’s fire department said those investigations typically take weeks or months.
What can be certain is that the rental property that burned down was operating without a license at the time of the fire. According to records from Baltimore’s Department of Housing and Community Development, the license expired in November. The Lombard street property is registered to an LLC in Elkridge, Maryland with a name that does not match any entities in the state’s business database.
The city doesn’t do proactive license inspections. It is the landlords’ responsibility to keep licensure up to date. Under a 2018 city law, it is illegal for a landlord to take rent from tenants at unlicensed properties.
Baltimore City Fire Department has not released any details about whether the property had working smoke alarms but they are a city requirement for licensure. Licenses also need to be properly displayed in every household.
“When they’re going to rent a property, or if they're already in a property, tenants should check our website or ask their landlord for a copy of their rental license,” said DHCD Deputy Commissioner Jason Hessler.
Unlicensed and unregulated housing is a worry for advocates who work with the Latino community.
“People are ignorant of what the laws and the rights are. So people are very scared,” said Barrios.
And in Highlandtown and Canton especially, which boasts some of the city’s highest numbers of Latino immigrants, the housing stock can be incredibly mixed, said Parker. Some homes can rent for $2400 while others of the exact same size can rent for the half price while in much worse condition.
Housing stability is a concern too.
Barrios described two of the young men who survived the fire. One went to the hospital briefly, for treatment of his burns but he felt like he could only get basic care because he’s uninsured. The day after the fire, she said, both men went to work.
“They want to work because they're afraid of losing their jobs and jobs are hard to come by,” said Barrios. “They cannot afford to lose their jobs… there’s no benefits for them.”
Housing is still the most pressing need for the displaced families. Those efforts are mostly being coordinated through the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement and CASA.
“It's a tight housing market and an expensive one. But there's some progress happening,” said Parker, the pastor, who is also running for City Council in District 1. As of Friday afternoon, there were two families looking for more semi-permanent housing.
The advocates working in Highlandtown agree that the resources for Spanish-speaking communities have improved dramatically over the years. Parker said that it was critical to have Spanish-speaking first responders on hand during Tuesday’s fire.
Yet, it isn’t just the immigrant-focused areas of Highlandtown and Patterson Park that need those resources, said Barrios, who hopes to see resources become more available throughout the city where there are Spanish speakers.
Financial donations for the fire victims can be made through Breath of God Lutheran Church. Those can go towards helping the displaced families get back on their feet and recover their belongings.
The deceased are being flown back to Guatemala where they will be interred. Funeral arrangements for services in Baltimore are not yet finalized.
On Saturday morning, Mayor Brandon Scott will join members of the Baltimore City Fire Department to give out smoke alarms in Highlandtown.
“If you don't have a smoke detector, call 311 and request one,” said Hessler with the city’s housing department. “Baltimore City Fire Department will come out within two hours and install a smoke detector for free so there's no reason not to have a working smoke detector on your property. And it is absolutely proven to save lives.”
