In the shadows of a burned out house and fire tape, a memorial has sprung up to honor a mother and son killed early Monday morning in Severna Park.
There are stuffed animals, flowers and photographs. Emotional cards bid farewell to 44-year-old Pauline Naylor and her 11-year-old son, William “Trae” Burnopp III, killed when flames tore through their home on Benfield Road.
Investigators are still trying to determine what caused the blaze that has rocked the Severna Park community and contributed to the deadliest year for fires in Anne Arundel County since at least the 1960s. Twelve people have died in house fires so far this year.
“It’s definitely the deadliest (year) in recent memory,” said county fire department Capt. Russ Davies.
Investigators have spent the time since the fire sifting through rubble, recovering items and processing evidence, Davies said. Neither a cause nor a point of origin for the fire have been determined, Davies said.
Items that are believed to be smoke alarms have been recovered, Davies said, but investigators have not yet determined if the alarms were working.
Meanwhile, in at least three county schools on Tuesday, students who knew William were dealing with their grief.
William attended Severna Park Middle School this year, where his principal remembers him as a bright and hard-working sixth grade student. He attended Millersville Elementary School last year as a fifth grader, said county schools spokesman Bob Mosier, and some of his former classmates now attend Old Mill Middle School South.
Mosier said there was a “good amount of discussion” and conversation about William on Tuesday.Counselors are available for students and staff at the schools. Extra counselors are ready to be deployed if they’re needed, Mosier said.
A former neighbor, who said her children used to play with William, called the boy “energetic and upbeat.”
Other neighbors this week described Naylor similarly. They said she and her son will be missed.
William’s father couldn’t immediately be reached on Tuesday.
Firefighters were called to the home at about 1:45 a.m. Monday by neighbors who spotted flames coming from the back of the house. No 911 calls came from inside the house, Davies said.
Units made entry and found Naylor and William unconscious in a bedroom in the front of the house, fire officials said. They were taken outside and declared dead at the scene. Nobody else was in the home at the time of the fire, Davies said, but two dogs never made it out.
It took 40 firefighters about 30 minutes to place the fire under control.
Naylor and William’s remains were transported to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore. A spokesman for the Medical Examiner’s Office on Tuesday said their cause of death remains under investigation.
Damage to the house was estimated at $250,000. Although there has been no indication that foul play was involved, Davies said anyone with information that might be pertinent to the investigation can call 410-222-TIPS.
