PHILADELPHIA, PA - At least 13 people died, including seven children in a two-unit rowhouse in the city’s Fairmount section in what officials said is one of the worse fires in recent Philadelphia history. Several others were critically injured.

According to fire officials, a witness reported hearing screams and seeing the home engulfed in flames at about 6:30 a.m. Wednesday. The home is owned by the Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA).

In a statement on Twitter, the Philadelphia Fire Department said: “Preliminary information indicates companies arrived at 6:40 a.m., and found heavy fire coming from the second floor of a three-story row house. It took 50 minutes to place the fire under control.”

The cause of the blaze is still under investigation.

The Philadelphia Fire Department told The New York Times that four smoke detectors did not go off during the fatal fire.

Kelvin A. Jeremiah, PHA president and CEO, said in a statement that the agency last inspected the property in May 2021 and all of the smoke detectors were operating properly at that time.

“This unimaginable loss of life has shaken all of us at PHA. It is too early for us to say more,” Jeremiah said. “The Fire Department, ATF (federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) and others are handling the investigation. Any information on the cause will come through them. Our primary goal right now is to support our residents in any way we can.”

Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney and other city official were at the scene of the fire. “This is without a doubt one of the most tragic days in our city’s history, the loss of so many people in such a tragic way,” he said at a news conference this morning. “Losing so many kids is just devastating.”

Eight people fled from the building and two people, one of them a child, were taken to nearby hospitals, said Craig Murphy, first deputy commissioner of the Philadelphia Fire Department.

“I’ve been around for 35 years now and this is probably one of the worst fires I’ve ever been to,” he said. “We plan on making sure that this tremendous loss of life did not happen in vain.” (Source: The Philadelphia Tribune)

Story Date: January 6, 2022