BALTIMORE, Md. — We're learning more about the man killed in a February 24 barn fire in St. Mary's County.
Robert Brown, 62, better known by his screen name Bobby J. Brown was an actor known for playing a detective in HBO's "The Wire," a Baltimore based crime drama series.
He also portrayed Baltimore Police Sergeant Thomas Allers in the mini-series "We Own This City," which was about the department's real-life corrupt Gun Trace Task Force.
The tragic incident occurred on Brown's home property located along Roosevelt Boulevard in Chaptico.
According to the Maryland State Fire Marshal's Office, Brown went into his barn to jump-start a vehicle.
He reportedly asked a family member inside the home to bring out a fire extinguisher.
"When she went outside, the fire had quickly spread throughout the barn," the Fire Marshal said in a release.
The family member apparently tried reaching Brown, but sustained burns to the hands requiring hospitalization.
By the time fire crews from Leornardtown and Mechanicsville could get on scene, Brown had already become trapped.
"After the fire was brought under control, firefighters located a deceased male victim within the barn," the Fire Marshal said. "The victim was located near a vehicle inside [the barn]."
Maryland's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled Brown's death accidental.
"The cause was diffuse thermal injury and smoke inhalation," an office spokesperson told WMAR-2 News.
Following his death, Brown's daughter and son each took to social media posting heartfelt messages about their father.
Reina Samara Brown described the loss as "devastating."
"It hurts in a way that sits heavy in my chest and does not move," she wrote on Facebook two days after her dad's death. "I would give anything to hear his voice again, to see him one more time, and to have one more conversation. The suddenness of it is overwhelming. One ordinary evening can become the last moment you ever get."
Since that initial message, Reina Brown has posted several more times reflecting on her father's memory.
Brown's son, Bobby II, also reacted writing this...
"To my Dad, my idol, my best friend, my superhero, the man who touched so many lives and the greatest role model a son could ever ask for," Bobby Brown II wrote on Facebook. "It’s been hard to even catch my breath through all of this. My world that was once bright and filled with joy is now dark and gray."
