[Baltimore Sun] Hundreds mourn Saturday night at funeral of three who died in Baltimore Highlands fire
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In a picture, the children seemed to be floating on a cloud.
That was the image seen by a few hundred people who braved the rain Saturday night to mourn the loss of the two children and their older cousin who died after a house fire in the Baltimore Highlands neighborhood on Feb. 27.
The children were smiling angelically in the framed photograph that superimposed their images on a puffy white cloud. The picture was displayed near the closed caskets of the children — Ángel Gustavo Adolfo Paz Gutierrez, 8, who died the day of the fire, and his 13-year-old sister, Yeymi Rubi Gutierrez Paz, who later died in the hospital, as did their 22-year-old cousin, Geremias Gutierrez Gomez.
Mariachi Garibaldi perform before the funeral mass for siblings Yeymi Rubi Paz Gutierrez, 13, and Angel Gustavo Adolfo Paz Gutierrez, 8, and their cousin Geremias Gutierrez Gomez, 22. Family and friends gather at Sacred Heart of Jesus Church before the funeral mass for the three victims of a fatal fire on East Lombard Street. (Kim Hairston/Staff)
The Gutierrez family scheduled the funeral mass for 10 p.m. Saturday at the Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Highlandtown to ensure that colleagues working late shifts could still attend. The victims will be buried in the family’s original home of Guatemala, where Geremias has a young child.
The three members of the Gutierrez family were killed after a fire broke out in their rowhouse in the 3400 block of East Lombard Street in the early hours of Feb. 27. The blaze rendered their home uninhabitable and damaged neighboring houses. Fire officials said the fire displaced 19, while the American Red Cross said it was assisting five families, or about 35 people.
Before the service, ushers passed out a sheet of paper bearing a Bible verse on one side and the names of the three victims on the other side.
“Jesus said, let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these,” the verse from Matthew read in Spanish.
Rubi was a smart, affectionate girl who loved to dance, her uncle Marvin Gutierrez Gomez said before the mass. “Her smile was the best,” he said. She loved cumbia and corridos, traditional Guatemalan songs, he said.
Her younger brother Ángel liked school and the beach, the uncle said. The 8-year-old enjoyed playing outdoors and had many friends. He also liked playing cell phone games, Marvin said.
He said their cousin Geremias was a hard worker and kind man who loved soccer, including playing pickup games with his friends. In a photo on top of his coffin, he wore a letterman-type jacket as he stared at the camera.
Mariachi Garibaldi perform before the funeral mass for siblings Yeymi Rubi Paz Gutierrez, 13, and Angel Gustavo Adolfo Paz Gutierrez, 8, and their cousin Geremias Gutierrez Gomez, 22. Family and friends gather at Sacred Heart of Jesus Church before the funeral mass for the three victims of a fatal fire on East Lombard Street. (Kim Hairston/Staff)
The three coffins — black for Geremías, gray for Rubi and white for the youngest, Angel — were topped with bouquets of white carnations.
Mariachis performed before the service. As they wrapped up their performance, Elida Gutierrez Gomez, the children’s mother, stood before her nephew Geremias’ coffin. As the musicians filed out, she moved to her daughter’s coffin and cried surrounded by family members.
As other attendees went to the church’s basement for tamales and coffee, she spent a long moment in front of Àngel’s white coffin. In the sudden silence, her quiet sobbing was the only sound in the sanctuary.
The fire’s cause is still under investigation. However, Baltimore Fire Department spokesperson Kevin Cartwright told The Baltimore Sun that the home the Gutierrez family rented did not have a working smoke alarm, which “perhaps contributed” to the deaths.
City records show a company registered to Kevin Agahi owns the home the family rented. Agahi, who did not return phone calls seeking comment, failed to renew the rental license for the property after it expired in November.
The inspection checklist for the licenses requires smoke detectors to be working and installed properly.
In the hours and days following the fire, city agencies, neighbors and community groups mobilized to aid the East Lombard Street families.
District 1 City Councilman Zeke Cohen quickly arrived at the scene of the fire, then worked on getting funds to bury the victims. Firefighters knocked on doors to check residents’ smoke alarms and distribute safety information and community leaders Lucia Islas and Susana Barrios interpreted between Red Cross volunteers and the block’s Spanish speaking residents.
Islas and Barrios said in interviews that their experience highlights the need for additional language resources for non-English speakers during emergencies.
Finding new housing for the displaced families was one of the most pressing priorities for advocates, who have found some success already. Antonia Mejia Ramos said her nine-person family had found a new home to rent nearby days after smoke damaged her home.
Meanwhile, the Breath of God Lutheran Church continues to accept donations on behalf of the families.
Breath of God’s pastor Mark Parker said last week that new immigrants like the Gutierrez family are more vulnerable in a crisis for a host of reasons that include language barriers, poor housing quality and the lack of established social networks and knowledge of available local resources.
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