A selfless hero: Fiancée of city firefighter killed in rowhome fire speaks out

By David Collins

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    BALTIMORE (WBAL) — For the first time, the fiancée of Baltimore City firefighter Kenneth Lacayo, killed in the line of duty, is sharing her story.

Clara Fenelon talked with 11 News about the loss of Lacayo, the report on the South Stricker Street fire and the resignation of B/altimore City Fire Chief Niles Ford.

Fenelon described Lacayo as the love of her life. A selfless hero who lived to help others.

“He always had a passion for helping people. He wanted to be a doctor and he decided to be a paramedic,” Fenelon said.

She said they were introduced at a party by Lacayo’s sister, and after the first date, they decided to spend the rest of their lives together. They went to concerts and traveled the world, visiting 15 countries along the way. Lacayo would stop at local fire departments and exchange T-shirts.

“He made it very clear that work came first, and he took it very seriously,” Fenelon said.

Lacayo spent 10 years with the Wheaton Volunteer Fire Co., where he won many awards, including paramedic of the year. He also was awarded a unit citation for his lifesaving actions saving a pedestrian stuck by a car.

He joined the Baltimore City Fire Department in October 2014.

“There was really nothing that would stop Kenny from fighting fires or going to work, honestly,” Fenelon said.

January’s vacant rowhouse fire on South Stricker Street was his first and last call of the day. He became trapped when the building collapsed.

According to a recently released report on the fire, his colleagues described conditions as digging through black sand, which resulted in very slow progress.

Fenelon read the report.

“It’s just been one of the hardest things — anyone who read the report knows that Kenny was alive after the collapse, which will make anybody who loved him very, very sad,” Fenelon said.

The report details numerous communication and leadership issues at the fire scene, concluding the department failed to implement previous recommendations on close calls and line-of-duty deaths. But Fenelon is not assigning blame.

“Of course, there were mistakes that were made, but I don’t think it changes the outcome. I don’t know if that would have changed the outcome,” she said.

Fenelon said another thing she loved about Lacayo was that he did everything 100%.

She said she wants Mayor Brandon Scott to keep his pledge to implement recommendations detailed in the fire report.

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