BETH PARKER
WTTG
Reprinted with Permission

BROOKLYN PARK, Md. - Joanne Silverstein had just finished washing her car Wednesday evening when she heard her neighbor's smoke alarms

"I looked to see what the noise was and I turned around and the smoke was coming from upstairs," said Silverstein.

Then she heard somebody yell that there was a baby inside the burning rowhouse. Silverstein raced across the street. She can't really remember, but others tell her she kicked in the door of that burning house across the street. She quickly found herself in a house full of thick smoke.

"I couldn't see and I was screaming 'Is anyone there? Is anyone there?' And then the baby started crying. She looked up at me. I saw the whites of her eyes. I didn't see her. I saw the whites of her eyes. I grabbed her and picked her up," said Silverstein.


Neighbors were relieved to see the baby safely in the neighbor’s arms.

Meanwhile, Frank Hullihen, who lived next door, ran inside the burning house too. He was looking for the baby's sleeping father.

"Couldn't find out where he was and a few minutes later, he came out the front door. He was crawling. We were trying to calm him down. He kept saying my baby. He was worried about his daughter - understandably," said Hullihen.

The 11-month old baby is doing fine. The family described it as a kitchen fire. They said the father was home. Family members said the mother had run across the street to borrow some flour she needed to cook dinner. The child's father is still in the hospital Thursday night recovering from burns.