Child dies after Dundalk house fire

First published Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024 in the Dundalk Eagle.

As neighbor Zack Richardson tells it, it was eerily quiet for such a dramatic night. Fire trucks lined Dunleer Road in the early hours of Wednesday, Sept. 4, but didn’t turn on their sirens.

Had he not gotten up to feed his newborn, he said, he would have entirely missed the house fire across the street from him at 3020 Dunleer Road. The Baltimore County Fire Department ruled that an electrical malfunction caused the fire.

According to a fire department press release, fire engines arrived at the house at 3:44 a.m. Firefighters broke through the house’s windows around 3:57 a.m, fire department radio traffic indicates.

Owner Kevin Mars’ 8-year-old son Nolan was hiding on the second floor of the house, suffering from cardiac arrest, his heart no longer beating, firefighters said over the radio. Firefighters found and rescued him by 4 a.m., radio traffic indicates. Richardson said Nolan’s body was “limp” as he was carried out of the burning house.

Nolan was sent to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries. He died by Sept. 9, according to a fire department press release. Only one pet survived, owner Kevin Mars said. Nine cats died in the blaze, according to the fire department.

Mars and four other children in the house escaped with “minor” injuries, the fire department says.

Despite the dramatic scene, few signs of tragedy remained just a few hours later on Sept. 4. The only hints that remained were charred grass, boarded up windows, small pieces of glass strewn around the outside of the house and the back of packaging for an oxygen mask. A faint smell of burning lingered if you got close enough. Even closer, burned wood was visible.

The birds in the tree next to the house kept chirping.

By Sept. 10, the oxygen mask packaging had been removed. In addition to a sign directing people to drop off packages at Richardson’s house, a sign warning people that “any alteration or removal of items in this area” would be punished because an ongoing fire investigation was taking place was visible.

Richardson, the neighbor, started a GoFundMe campaign to help the family. As of Tuesday, it had already raised over $23,000 out of the $30,000 goal. His wife set up a clothing drive for the family.

“The support has been amazing and unexpected but sometimes uncomfortable,” Mars wrote in a text to the Eagle, “being we’re usually quiet people.”