PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Two children and their grandmother are hurt after a fire ripped through a rowhome in the Bridesburg section of Philadelphia overnight. Investigators are looking into the possibility that the fire was intentionally set.
The fire started around 2 a.m. Wednesday, officials say, at the home situated at the corner of James and Kennedy streets, near Exit 27 on I-95 southbound. Firefighters climbed a ladder to a second-story window to rescue the three people trapped inside: an 11-year-old boy, a 13-year-old girl, and their 56-year-old grandmother.
The children's mother, Karinne Mahaffey, says she wasn't at home during the fire. She came back to the house later in the morning after checking on her kids at St. Christopher’s Hospital. They are in stable condition and are recovering.
"My daughter is not awake," she said. "My son, he was awake a little bit. He's in and out, and we all have to figure out how we can start over."
She says the kids' grandmother is in worse shape. She suffered significant smoke inhalation.
At the house, she tried to salvage pictures of her kids and other possessions that didn’t go up in flames.
"This is a mess," she said. "I could've lost everybody that meant something to me."
Police believe a 35-year-old man started the fire, but they did not give more detail. Mahaffey says she has been having problems with her ex. No one has been arrested.
The Philadelphia Fire Department is investigating the possibility of arson. The home next door had to be evacuated as well. The Red Cross says it is helping the two families affected by the fire.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story had the age of the boy wrong.