'The whole house blew up’: Neighbors describe explosion in 911 calls before major fire in Northwest Baltimore

In panicked calls to 911, five different neighbors told dispatchers they heard or felt an explosion before the major fire that injured three adults and two children in Northwest Baltimore last week.

The Baltimore Fire Department is still investigating the cause of the incident, and Baltimore Gas & Electric Co. officials said the utility company’s crews found no natural gas readings or leaks from service pipes leading to the homes that were destroyed.

The Baltimore Sun obtained recordings of the 911 calls through a public-records request to provide additional insight about the incident. On Oct. 11, the night of the incident, fire officials declined to confirm that an explosion had occurred, despite neighbors describing a blast and officials comparing it to the gas explosion that killed two people in August.

The Lanier Avenue blast sounded like a plane crash and blew out JoVeen Bird’s kitchen window, she said.

“It’s an explosion,” she told the dispatcher. “Something just blew up.”

Bird, 39, who lives nearby on Virginia Avenue, told a dispatcher she couldn’t tell whether anyone was hurt or trapped. All she could see was smoke and people running, she said.

“This cannot be real,” she said. “This is like some [expletive] you see in an action movie. What the hell? Oh my gosh. I’m shaking so bad I can’t even stand up.”

Bird told the dispatcher she did not hear a bursting or hissing sound, did not smell an unusual odor and did not see anyone or anything suspicious.

But then the smoke apparently cleared enough for her to see a house ablaze — as well as flames engulfing trees near Bird’s home.

“Oh my god,” she said. “It is a fire. It’s a house on fire. Oh my god. It’s burning through the trees by my house. It’s real close to where my house is. The trees is burning. Let me get myself out of this house.”

In a follow-up phone interview with The Sun, Bird said it “sounded like a war was going on outside.”

“It was a big explosion at first, then a smaller one later,” she said.

Another neighbor, whose name was inaudible, called 911 from the 4600 block of Lanier Ave. and told a dispatcher she heard “a big boom." When she looked outside, the top of the house across the street was “blown up at the top," she said.

“I think it’s on fire," she said. “It shook the whole house."

Another neighbor, who did not give her name to a dispatcher, could be heard hurrying family members out of her house while on the phone with 911.

“The house across the street from me just blew up,” she said. “Y’all, let’s go.”

The dispatcher asks the address of the house where it happened, which the woman says is 4609 Lanier Ave. Then, the woman turns her full attention to the evacuation and stops responding to the dispatcher’s questions.

“Go to my car, y’all! Run!” she can be heard saying. “Girl, come here!”

A man, who said he was calling 911 from the area of Dupont and Greenspring avenues, declined to provide a dispatcher with his name, address or phone number.

But he reported feeling the explosion rock the foundation of his house.

“It shook the building,” he said. “Something just exploded over here.”

A dispatcher asked a fifth caller, a neighbor who gave her name as Tiffany, which floor of the house appeared to be burning.

“Ma’am, the whole house blew up,” Tiffany said.

After Tiffany said she had children with her, the dispatcher instructed her to evacuate her home.

“If it’s safe to do so, leave the area,” the dispatcher said. “Leave the building immediately, close the doors behind you and remain outside.”

Tiffany can be heard making another call while still on the line with 911.

“Daddy, please come get us," she said. "Daddy, come get us now. I don’t know what’s going on around here, but come get us now. … I can’t stay in this house. I can’t stay in this area, Daddy.”

The dispatcher instructs Tiffany not to approach or enter any hazardous or dangerous areas and asks her to call back if anything worsens.

As the call ends, she can be heard hurrying her children out of the house.

“Pack up. Pack up. Pack up,” she said.

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