7-month-old Michaela Walker identified as baby killed in Detroit house fire

A 7-month-old baby was killed in a house fire Saturday on Detroit’s northwest side after children were playing with a burning candle.

Fox 2 details the story, noting that the babysitter, 26, was home with the children as the baby’s mother went to work. Less than hour later, 45 minutes or so, the fire spread and caught the baby’s mattress on fire and Michaela Walker was killed.

Five other people, the one adult and four children, were able to escape the home without harm.

Eigh Lowe is a neighbor, who told the news station that he tried to save the baby, “The house was on fire, it was like three or four other guys going around the house, but they didn’t know the family either. they were just like us. Everybody was trying to talk and find out where the baby [was] and so I just went in the house.”

He say by the time he went inside the home to find the baby girl, it was already too late.

There has been a Gofundme set up for the family.

“Baby Michaela was called home to be with our Father in heaven on 1/9/2016,” the page states. “She was 7 months old. The family has lost everything, including Michaela, due to an accidential house fire. The family appreciates any help that can be given and all prayers for the family.”

Wsws.com notes that “The drop in temperatures, while not unusual for Michigan winters, hits impoverished neighborhoods like those in Detroit especially hard. Many of the older homes are not properly insulated, have old furnaces and are inefficient in conserving heat. Owing to that, the use of electric space heaters as a primary source of warmth is widespread in poorer communities.”