Baltimore police investigate Cherry Hill apartment fire as arson, homicide
A man died after a Cherry Hill apartment fire, and Baltimore police say evidence points to arson in the 2300 block of Round Road.
A Cherry Hill apartment fire left an unidentified man dead and drew Baltimore police detectives, crime lab technicians and police dogs to the 2300 block of Round Road, where investigators now say the case is being treated as arson and homicide. The blaze has put a South Baltimore apartment complex under intense scrutiny as police work to determine how the fire started and whether anyone else was put at risk.
Fire crews were called to the building a little after 10 p.m. Tuesday after flames were spotted inside one of the ground-floor apartments. Crews extinguished the fire within five minutes, but responders later found a body outside the building and an unidentified deceased male inside the apartment, officials said. The victim’s remains were taken to the Medical Examiner’s office for identification and to determine the cause of death.
Police said the evidence collected at the scene pointed investigators toward an intentional fire. Detectives found items leading away from the damaged apartment toward a wooded area near the complex, and a partially melted gas can was recovered near the unit, according to investigators. Homicide detectives, crime lab technicians and police dogs searched the area around the building, and a drone was used to document the scene from above.
The fast-moving response came to a neighborhood that sits close to the waterfront communities of South Baltimore and Cherry Hill, where apartment fires can quickly affect nearby residents and surrounding units. Authorities did not release further details about the victim’s identity, and no information was immediately provided about other tenants being displaced.
Baltimore police are asking anyone with information about the fire to call 410-396-2100 or Metro Crime Stoppers at 1-866-7Lockup. The investigation remains focused on how the blaze began, what led from the apartment toward the wooded area, and whether the deadly fire was set deliberately.
This article was produced by Prism’s automated news system from verified source data, official records, and press releases, then run through automated quality and moderation checks before publishing. The system is built and supervised by the people who set the standards it runs under. Read our full AI policy.
Know something we missed? Have a correction or additional information?
Submit a Tip
