PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The entire city is mourning with the family and friends of 12 people who lost their lives in Wednesday morning's duplex fire in the Fairmount neighborhood. Eight of the people who died were children. Many questions remain at the site of that deadly fire, and investigators are working to find some answers.
Just 24 hours after the first 911 calls came in, investigators from the Philadelphia Fire Department and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were back at 23rd and Ogden streets Thursday morning.
ATF specialists, there at the request of the city fire marshal, took photos and examined the charred, three-story brick duplex, where the city’s deadliest single house fire more than a century took place.
On Wednesday night, there was a police procession to transport the bodies of the 12 victims to the medical examiner's office. On that corner, a small memorial has sprung up with flowers, a teddy bear, some unlit candles.
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Jacuita Purifoy says the victims of that fire were her sisters, nieces and nephews. She says she wants to know how and why this fire, that took away so many members of her family, started.
"Regardless of what — family functions, birthdays — we was all together. We always stayed together. We stuck together because we was a family," Purifoy said.
"They was relevant. They was somebody who, you know, was supposed to continue life and die of old age, not from stuff that could have been avoided, if just, just … only if."
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The Philadelphia Housing Authority, which owns and inspects the two-unit building, says smoke detectors at the property were fine back during the most recent inspection last May. Fire officials noted Wednesday, however, that those detectors were not working during the fire.
At least two people were hospitalized, and some others managed to escape from the building. Officials said 26 people had been staying in the two apartments. The names or ages of the people killed in the fire have not been officially released.
PHA President and CEO Kelvin Jeremiah stopped by the scene on Thursday morning with Congressman Dwight Evans, who represents the district. Jeremiah said PHA will have a media briefing later on Thursday.
"Our primary objective, as it was yesterday, as it is today, and the days to come, will be to stand firmly in support of our families who are suffering," Jeremiah. "I intend to speak to them again hopefully before I meet with all of you later today."
Asked how such a fire could happen at a PHA property, he said only, "Bear with us, and I’ll get back to you with all of the answers [to the questions] that you might have."
A methodical investigation
How did the fire start? Why were the smoke detectors not working? Why were 26 people living in a two-unit building? How could this have been prevented. It may take weeks until the they determine the the cause, but fire investigators say it is their priority to get answers to these questions and more.
Their first charge is to find the origin of the fire, says Thomas Schneiders, a retired Philadelphia Fire Department investigator. He now serves as an expert for insurance companies and to give testimony in court.
Then, from there, investigators study how the fire burned, identifying any patterns, or "demarcations that are left on a particular building, left on a particular room," Schneiders said.
Then they survey the amount of damage, from where the heaviest damage is to where the lightest amount is. "Specifically, we look at where fires originated and travel to," he said.
He says, often, looking for the cause of a fire is a process of elimination. For example, an investigative team may eliminate an electrical heater first, and then look at the entire electrical system. "Then you look at other areas, fireplaces, electrical appliances, TVs," he said, until what you are left with is the most likely cause of the fire.
Early on, when the fire is first put out, investigators typically use omnidirectional cameras to get a 360-degree view of the building "just to make sure that the scene is very well documented before anything is touched or removed."
Want to help?
The nonprofit Children First has started a fundraiser online for anyone looking for a way to help the families affected by this tragedy. Children First says they will work with the Bache-Martin School, which has offered shelter and support to displaced survivors, along with Mayor Jim Kenny and City Council President Darrell Clarke to get the money to the right people.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.