A week after a gas explosion ripped through a Northwest Baltimore neighborhood, residents gathered for prayer, song and reflection to memorialize victims and uplift the over 200 displaced.
Fallstaff community member Maribel, who did not provide her full name out of concern for privacy, was among those who attended a Monday night vigil near the site of the Aug. 10 explosion that killed two people and leveled three homes off Reisterstown Road.
“I had left my children with my sister in-law at the house,” Maribel told WTOP. “At the same moment that my 11-year-old daughter called me, I have security cameras on my house, I got an alert and watched it on film as the explosion took place.”
Her children were not harmed. She knows her home is at least intact, but hasn’t been able to return since the blast and is unsure of its condition.
“Right now, we’re in a much better place,” she said, thanking those gathered for turning out to the heartfelt vigil organized through CASA, an advocacy group that assists Latino and immigrant communities.
The explosion claimed the life of 20-year-old Morgan State University sophomore Joseph Graham and 61-year-old Lonnie Herriott.
Graham and Herriott were also memorialized in an earlier vigil at Baltimore’s Empowerment Temple AME Church, at which donations were made during a drive-thru service to help assist with funeral costs.
WTOP’s Mike Murillo contributed to this report.
