BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — A woman was killed and a child was hurt when fire tore through a two-story apartment building on Druid Hill Drive in Birmingham early Monday evening, the Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service said.
Firefighters were sent to the 1500 block of Druid Hill Drive at about 6 p.m. By the time the first crews pulled up, the building was heavily involved, with flames and smoke pouring out.
Two people were trapped inside, and firefighters had to bring both of them out. An adult woman died at the scene. The child was rushed to Children’s of Alabama for treatment.
As of Monday night, fire officials had not named the woman or given the child’s age or condition, and they have not said whether the two were related. Capt. Orlando Reynolds said no one else was injured.
Many questions remain open. The department has not said where in the building the fire began, how long the two were inside before they were reached, or whether working smoke alarms were in the unit. The cause is under investigation.
The deaths add to a grim local pattern. According to the city fire department, half of all fire deaths in Alabama happen in the Greater Birmingham area, and the state has the most fire deaths in the Southeast.
The department hands out free working smoke alarms to Birmingham residents who ask for one. It advises placing at least one alarm close to bedrooms and one on each level of a home with more than one floor, and it points to research finding that a smoke detector halves the odds of dying in a fire.
Section: More Birmingham AL crime news
Filed under: Birmingham AL Public Safety News
