Crime & Safety

Two Women Killed in Essex House Fire

Carolyn and Stacy Himmelheber, who lived in the 900 block of Arncliffe Road, were rescued from their home before dying at local hospitals, fire officials said.

(UPDATED 10:47 a.m.) A house fire in Essex claimed the lives of two women Monday night.

Firefighters were called to the 900 block of Arncliffe Road around 7:30 p.m. for reports of a home being on fire, said Jay Ringgold, a Baltimore County Fire Department spokesman.

Police and neighbors arrived at the home before fire crews and started to knock on the door. Rescue workers then quickly entered the home and removed the women, Ringgold said.

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Rescue crews were hampered slightly by clutter in the home, Ringgold said.

Both women, who fire department spokesman Elise Armacost identified in a news release Tuesday as Carolyn Lee Himmelheber, 63, and Stacy Lynn Himmelheber, 40, were located on the second floor with one being in the bathroom and one found near the bathroom.

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One victim was taken to Franklin Square Hospital Center while the other was transported to Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in critical condition where they were declared dead, Ringgold said.

No one else was injured in the blaze and the cause of the fire is under investigation, Ringgold said.

Armacost added that the fire caused about $25,000 in damages and that while the home was equipped with battery-powered smoke detectors, none of them activated during the fire

In addition, Ringgold said the victims had just come home from the hospital hours earlier after they had been involved in a multi-vehicle accident along the same block around 9:30 a.m. this morning.

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