LODD: FF Allan Roberts / Baltimore City, MD 10/10

[RocklandFires 44]

FF Allan Roberts of Truck 26/Detailed Engine 41 was killed this morning in a 2nd Alarm Fire, Box 11-7 @ 512 South Macon Street in Baltimore City, MD. The fire occurred @ aprox 2:30 AM this morning and was a heavily involved middle of the group private dwelling. At 2:40 AM the Batt. Chief reported missing firefighters. Rest In Peace Brother !

[DMA327 12]

Two other firefighters were also burned in the blaze; one reportedly had serious burns so keep those two firefighters in prayers as well. Condolences to brother Roberts's family and friends as well as the Baltimore City Fire Department.

Rest In Piece

Edited October 10, 2006 by DMA327

[ajsbear 11]

A Baltimore City Firefighter has died of his injuries following a two-alarm fire this morning in Southeast Baltimore. Two other firefighters and two civilians are hospitalized. The firefighter was identified as 40-year-old Allen M. Roberts. Officials say Roberts had been a firefighter for 19 years.

Two other firefighters were injured in the blaze.

The fire was reported about 2:30 a.m. in the 500 block of South Macon Street in the Greektown area. WJZ'S Mary Bubala spoke to Fire Department spokesman Chief Kevin Cartwright says the first units reported heavy fire and smoke coming from a two-story brick row home.

Two occupants jumped from the second floor to escape the flames. Cartwright says they suffered minor injuries. The three firefighters were trapped inside by the partial collapse of the second floor. Cartwright says a rapid intervention team rescued them within minutes. One of the firefighters has serious injuries and the others have minor burn injuries.

"The fire began to rage in it's intensity and ordered any evacuation of those members...It appeared that the structure might have flashed over...Firefighters made a rapid egress, exit the dwelling. In the interim there was minor entrapment of the firefighters, they were able to get them out within a minute or so." said Cartwright.

All five patients were sent to the Bayview Medical Center. The cause of the fire has not been determined.

Copyright CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.

[Guest]

Two other firefighters were also burned in the blaze; one reportedly had serious burns so keep those two firefighters in prayers as well.  Condolences to brother Roberts's family and friends as well as the Baltimore City Fire Department.

Rest In Piece

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Rest in Peace is the proper termonology not piece....CHHS all the way...

[gpdexplorer 46]

My thoughts and prayers do out the firefighters' families as well as the BCFD.

[Guest]

Very sad. May FF Roberts rest in peace and may his children always remember their father as a hero who gave his life so that others might live.

On my behalf and my fellow members of the Pelham FD, NY, we extend our condolences to his family and the City of Baltimore firefighters. Wish FFs Butler and Maddox a speedy recovery and return to duty.

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credit: Chris Ammann/Examiner

Veteran Baltimore firefighter dies in blaze

Kathleen Cullinan, The Examiner

Oct 11, 2006 5:00 AM (3 hrs ago)

BALTIMORE - A veteran Baltimore city firefighter died early Tuesday after he was pulled from a blaze that swept through a rowhouse in Greektown, collapsing the second floor and trapping three firefighters inside, authorities said.

Allan Roberts, 40, a father of four children working an extra shift Monday night who was last to be rescued from the burning building, died from smoke inhalation and other injuries, a fire department spokesman said.

Two other firefighters and two civilians who jumped out a second-story window also were injured in the blaze, Chief Kevin Cartwright said.

“It hasn’t clearly sunk in. It will later tonight, tomorrow,†said Capt. David Goldman, a friend of Roberts’ for more than a decade who helped deliver the news Tuesday morning to his widow. “If I stop to think about it, that’s when I tear up.â€

Firefighters arriving at the Mannasota Avenue station in Northeast Baltimore, where Roberts was assigned to Truck 26, were somber as the news spread hours later. Everyone was in a state of disbelief, firefighter David Fitzpatrick said.

Emergency workers were alerted at about 2:30 a.m. to the fire in the 500 block of South Macon Street in Southeast Baltimore, Cartwright said.

Firefighters established a water supply and three of them — including Roberts, who arrived at the scene with Engine 41 — got into the building, Cartwright said.

Loaded down with nearly 100 pounds of equipment as flames licked at their backs and the temperature soared past 1,000 degrees, the firefighters tried to escape, Cartwright said. But they were blocked by the front door, which had apparently shut when the floor caved in.

A rapid intervention team pulled each firefighter free, he said.

Firefighter James Butler was discharged from Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center by the afternoon, while firefighter Brandon Maddox remained under treatment.

The man and woman who jumped from the second-story window also were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.

Emergency workers tried to resuscitate Roberts, Cartwright said, but he was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at Bayview.

Investigators are not sure what caused the fire or where it began, Cartwright said. Leonard J. Ruck Inc. on Harford Road is handling the funeral arrangements, which were incomplete Tuesday evening.

A 19-year veteran of the department, Roberts received an award in 1994 for rescuing a baby from a crib in a basement fire, according to fire officials.

He leaves behind two daughters, ages 13 and 11, and 5 and an infant, Goldman said.

“So sudden, it’s just shocking,†Goldman said, reflecting on the last extra shift Roberts picked up. “He was doing it for his family.â€

[Guest]

From ABC 7 News:

Funeral Arrangements Complete for Baltimore Firefighter

Location: BALTIMORE

Posted: October 12, 2006 5:13 AM EST

URL: http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/1006/368332.html

BALTIMORE (AP) - The funeral arrangements are complete for the Baltimore firefighter who died Tuesday after he was injured battling a house fire in the city's Greektown section.

Viewings for Allan Roberts are scheduled for 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, at the Leonard Ruck Funeral Home on Harford Road.

The funeral Mass is scheduled for Monday morning at 10:30 at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen on North Charles Street.

The funeral procession will then travel to Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens in Timonium.

Roberts is survived by his wife and four children

[Guest]

From the Baltimore Sun

Family, friends mourn firefighter

Funeral and procession honor Allan M. Roberts, who died last Tuesday

By Annie Linskey

sun reporter

October 17, 2006

A recording of the radio dispatch call echoed off the stone walls of the cathedral.

"Eastern Avenue ... person trapped on the second floor ... Engine 41 ... Engine 5 ... Truck 20 ... 512 South Macon Street ... two people trapped."

Not all of the words were clear, but the message was. This was the call for a fire that claimed the life of Allan M. Roberts, a 19-year veteran of the Baltimore Fire Department early last Tuesday. And they were the last he would hear from a dispatcher before heading into a burning rowhouse with two rookies by his side.

Firefighters and friends who had gathered to mourn in the cavernous Cathedral of Mary Our Queen on North Charles Street listened and sobbed. And when the brief recording had finished, Baltimore Fire Chief William J. Goodwin Jr. said: "What you heard was all the information Firefighter Roberts and 31 other human beings had" before Roberts and two others went into the Greektown rowhouse to search for missing people.

They quickly realized the blaze was too hot, but as they retreated, part of the ceiling collapsed, and the room burst into flames. Two were rescued. Roberts, a father of four, died of his burns.

"I always say my role is to make sure everyone goes home to their family," Goodwin said. "That didn't happen. I suffer with that."

The people reported to be in the house had escaped before the firefighters arrived. Investigators learned that an electrical short-circuit in a water heater started the blaze. The people in the home were apparently getting power from an unauthorized source.

A firefighter's funeral is rare in Baltimore. The last man to die while fighting a blaze perished 11 years ago in an eight-alarm inferno at the Clipper Industrial Park.

Yesterday, more than 50 fire trucks from across Maryland - and across the country - occupied several blocks of North Charles Street.

The hearse was red, not black. The casket carrying Roberts' body was transported on the back of Engine 27, from his firehouse in Northeast Baltimore. Men on his shift tied black ribbons to the sides and the back.

As it pulled up to the church, firefighters and police saluted. Civilians put their right hands over their hearts, against the shrill backdrop of bagpipes.

Firefighters and police wore their formal blue uniforms. Black bands covered their badges. Most had white gloves. Police Commissioner Leonard D. Hamm said 170 city police officers had been assigned to attend the funeral. "We're one and the same. We're one big family," he said.

The two men injured in the fire, Brandon Mattox and James Butler, stood near the stairs to the cathedral as the fire engine with the coffin inched by. Gauze was wrapped around the burns on their hands, a stark reminder of the dangers the firefighters face. Their wives, standing next to each other, held hands.

Most of these people didn't know Roberts. "That's what we do in the fire service. We don't have to know somebody. We do it out of respect," said John Frazier, a Baltimore fire commander.

Russell Sehlick, 73, with the Riviera Beach Volunteer Fire Department in Anne Arundel, said he's been to many funerals.

"Every time one of them passes away we try to show up. Especially if someone dies in the line of duty. The old saying is when you go out on the wagon you might not be coming back. You try to be safe ... but things happen."

Pallbearers lifted the coffin and carried it into the church. One man carried Roberts' formal blue hat. Another held his badge cupped in his hands. Others carried boxes for flags.

Roberts' family entered the church first, led by Jacob, his restless 5-year-old son, dressed in a suit and tie. But when his father's coffin came out, his face turned serious, and he saluted.

Mayor Martin O'Malley was one of three who delivered a eulogy. "We owe Allan's children a debt - and we will never be able to pay it back."

Addressing the children, the mayor said: "Your daddy was not a hero because of how he died. He was a hero because of how he lived."

Capt. David Goldman, who was Roberts' boss and a longtime friend, spoke for the family. "Nobody could ever stop him," Goldman said. Roberts was known as "the Beast from the Northeast," a reference to his Mannasota Avenue firehouse, Goldman said.

The crowd laughed when Goldman described Roberts' son as just like his father: "a little rebel."

At times Roberts could be rambunctious, and Goldman recalled frequently bringing him in to his office for talks. "He'd say, 'You're right. We're still friends.'" Then the two would hug. "I wish he was here for that hug," Goldman said.

Once the speeches and the prayers were over, the firefighters in the church lined up to salute the casket, a tribute that took nearly 45 minutes.

When they finished, fire trucks from nearby and far away companies rolled north on Charles Street - heading toward the Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens. The names of companies rolled by: BWI Fire Rescue; Annapolis Fire Department; Bel Air; Manassas, Va.; Lake Shore Volunteer Fire Department; Prince George's County Fire Department; New York City Fire Department; Laytonsville.

In addition to attending the funeral, many firefighters from suburban counties staffed city fire stations so that their counterparts in the city could pay respects to their fallen colleague.

Tina Schaefer, the wife of the last city firefighter to die fighting a fire, Eric Schaefer, saw the trucks move by. She recalled being overwhelmed by the funeral for her husband. This time she could focus. "I felt like I needed to be here," she said. "I needed to be here for her."

Schaefer said she remembers the fellowship that had been extended to her. "It comforted me so much. I pray it comforts them," she said.

"I can't imagine rushing into a burning building," She added. "I don't understand it. But that's what they do. I'm thankful for them."

Edited October 17, 2006 by hoss

[Guest]

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credit: AP Photo

[Guest]

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credit: Sun Photo