The Reservoir Hill fire that killed a 2-year-old earlier this month was caused by a space heater kept too close to a bed, the Baltimore Fire Department said Wednesday.
Nasir Smith was killed just five days shy of his second birthday in the Jan. 13 blaze, which ripped through a row home in the 800 block of Whitelock St.
Nasir's father, Vernon Smith Sr. was critically injured in the blaze. Neighbors said they saw Smith Sr., badly burned on his face and torso, run out of the home.
Two other children inside at the time were rescued by construction workers who ran into the burning home before firefighters arrived, fire department officials said.
Nasir was laid to rest Saturday after a funeral Mass at St. Peter Claver Church in Baltimore. His death marked the city's first fire casualty in 2015; the city had 17 last year, 23 in 2013 and 12 in 2012.
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