Eight children among 12 dead in Philadelphia house fire

A large house fire that tore through a building in Philadelphia early on Wednesday has killed 12 people, including eight children, fire officials said.

At least two people were sent to hospitals, and officials warned the toll could grow as firefighters searched the brick rowhome, where 26 people had been staying.

Officials said at a news conference later in the morning that there were four smoke detectors in the building but that none were operating. The blaze’s cause is not yet known.

Firefighters and police responded to the fire at the three-story rowhouse in the city’s Fairmount neighborhood at about 6.40am and found flames coming from the second-floor windows, in an area believed to be a kitchen, fire officials said. The house had been converted into two apartments and is owned by the Philadelphia Housing Authority, police said.

The fire was brought under control after less than an hour. WPVI-TV reported that at least one child was seen taken out on a stretcher. City and fire officials did not release the names or ages of those killed in the fire.

Television news footage showed ladders propped up against the smoke-blackened front of the house, with all its windows missing. Holes remained in the roof where firefighters had broken through.

“It was terrible. I’ve been around for 35 years now and this is probably one of the worst fires I have ever been to,” said Craig Murphy, first deputy fire commissioner, at a news conference near the scene later in the morning.

According to police, 18 people lived in the second-floor apartment of the duplex, and another eight people lived on the first floor.

It was a “tremendous amount of people to be living in a duplex”, said Murphy.

Murphy said that the fire was not currently considered suspicious, but investigations continue.

“I knew some of those kids – I used to see them playing on the corner,” said Dannie McGuire, 34, fighting back tears as she and Martin Burgert, 35, stood in the doorway of a home around the corner. They had lived there for a decade, she said, “and some of those kids have lived here as long as us”.

“I can’t picture how more people couldn’t get out – jumping out a window,” she said.

“Without a doubt one of the most tragic days in our city’s history,” said Mayor Jim Kenney. “Losing so many kids is just devastating. Keep these babies in your prayers.”

Fire officials originally said 13 people had died in the fire, seven of them children, but totals were updated on Wednesday evening. Eight children and four adults were found dead, officials said. Firefighters were able to rescue one child from the building, but the child died.

The fire burned in a residential area of the Fairmount neighborhood, north-west of downtown and home to the Philadelphia Museum of Art and its famous steps from the film Rocky.

Streets around the scene of the fire remained blocked off on Wednesday evening. Moments after the last firetruck pulled away from the front of the house, several neighbors quietly approached the foot of the block and left candles and flowers.

Jill Biden, who along with Joe Biden has deep ties to the Philadelphia area, tweeted: “My heart is with the families and loved ones of the victims of the tragic fire in Philadelphia.”

Murphy noted that 26 was a large number of people to be occupying a duplex, but a spokesperson for Philadelphia’s Department of Licenses and Inspections said the city did not limit the number of family members who can stay in a single unit. The mayor said people should withhold judgment.

“You don’t know the circumstances of each and every family and maybe there were relatives and family that needed to be sheltered,” Kenney said. “Obviously the tragedy happened, and we all mourn for it. But we can’t make judgment on the number of people living in the house because sometimes people just need to be indoors.”

“It’s just heartbreaking,” said Andrea Duszenczuk, 68, whose family has long owned a home in the neighborhood and who walked her dog past the home regularly. “A lot of these homes have old wiring; these are probably 125 years old. Who knows what’s behind the walls.”

Source: The Guardian