Arbutus Youth Football Players Killed in SW Baltimore Rowhouse Fire

A young mother and two of her children were killed in a swiftly moving three-alarm fire that ripped through a block of southwest Baltimore rowhouses early Thursday morning.

Michelle Manigo, 32, perished along with ten-year-old Taquis, 10, and Jyquis, who was seven years old. One person, George Washington, who was engaged to Manigo, escaped the fire on the 600-block of South Pulaski Street.

A third child, Marquis, spent the night at a grandparents house and was unharmed.

All three children play for the Arbutus Golden Eagles football team. The Arbutus Althetic Association has established a fund to raise money to help the family recover from the devastating loss.

Sources told Arbutus Patch that the fire erupted around 1 a.m. and spread quickly through a row of homes.

Washington said that he and Manigo were asleep in an upstairs front bedroom when fire broke out.

"Everybody says they heard a big boom," he said. "I didn't hear nothing."

Washington said that there was smoke in the bedroom when he woke up. "I got down on the floor so I could breathe, and told Michelle to get down too," he said. "We were both on the floor."

When he opened the bedroom door, "the fire moved in on us," he said. "We couldn't get out of the room."

Taquis and Jyquis were asleep in a middle bedroom with only one door and no windows, and were unable to escape the flames.

Washington said he pushed an air conditioner out of the bedroom window and crawled out the gap. "I called for Michelle to come with me out the window, but I never heard back from her," he said.

Manigo and Washington were engaged to be married. She was pregnant at the time of her death, with a due date in December, according to Washington.

Fire officials have not determined the cause of the fire, which damaged 11 homes and completely gutted at least five homes, according to Baltimore City fire chief Kevin Cartwright.

"The fire is under investigation," he said.

Washington said that fire officlals told him the blaze started in the downstairs front room. "First they said it was electrical, and then they said something about a gas line," he said.

The fire moved rapidly through the connecting rowhomes.

"I went to the bathroom and heard glass shatter," said Beth Glatthaar, whose home three doors away was destroyed. "I thought people outside were fighting. But when I opened the front door, I saw flames shooting off the front porch.

Glatthaar and her husband, Roland, escaped the fire along with their son, but lost all of their posessions, including two house cats.

"This is devastating to the homeowners," said Joshua Smith, a minister with The Church nearby on Wilkens Avenue. "They lost everything."

The fire is a tragedy from which the community will never recover, said neighbor Terri Washington, who is not related to George.

"We experienced a tragedy here," she said while sitting beneath vinyl siding melted by hot vapors. "A family lost their lives. We're blessed to still be here alive. Our block will never be the same again."

Neighbors recalled Taquis and Jyquis as friendly children who enjoyed sports and riding their bikes around the neighborhood.

"They were nice people," said Buddy McCready, whose home was also damaged by the fire.

Arbutus Althetic Association moved quickly to set up a fund to raise money for whatever the Manigo family may need to get through the crisis.

Donations for "The Manigo Family Fund" can be made at or mailed to: Chesapeake Bank of Maryland's Arbutus Branch located at 5424 Carville Ave. Baltimore, MD 21227.