Bobby J. Brown, best known for his portrayal of Baltimore cop Bobby Brown on HBO’s The Wire, died on Tuesday, February 24, after being caught in a barn fire at his home in Maryland. He was 62.
TMZ has since released audio footage of the 911 call of Bobby’s wife, Arlene Brown, as she spoke with emergency services while trying to save her husband’s life. Arlene suffered severe burns in her attempt to rescue Bobby from the barn.
During the call, per The Daily Mail, Arlene told dispatchers that a fire broke out in the 50-by-100-foot barn after Bobby tried to “start up his old Cadillac.” The dispatchers are then heard discussing the best methods to put out the fire and rescue Bobby.
One dispatched suggested a “nursing operation” to “get some water up there to the house.” Another recommended using “two fireboats… since we’re so close to the water.”
As fire trucks arrived at the scene, a dispatcher noted, “We do have exposure issues with two vehicles.” They also mentioned the “tight” space and told the person on the other end of the line to “leave room for the special services, please.”
The emergency services then went to work on getting water on the fire, but there were further complications due to the nearby grass. “Command to the entire group,” one voice is heard saying on the 911 call. “Are you able to reposition that one hand line over here to the grass here? It’s spreading.”
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While the blaze was eventually put out, emergency services were unable to save Bobby in time. The Maryland Office of the Chief Medical Examiner later confirmed the actor’s cause of death as diffuse thermal injury and smoke inhalation. The death was ruled an accident.
According to family members, per the Daily Mail, Bobby called a relative to bring a fire extinguisher after the fire broke out. However, the barn had already become fully engulfed by the time help arrived.
In addition to The Wire, Bobby appeared in We Own This City as Sergeant Thomas Allers, Homicide: Life on the Street, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, as well as films such as 2002’s City by the Sea, 2016’s My One and Only, and 2018’s Fishbowl.
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