PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — City officials convened Tuesday to reveal their preliminary findings of what caused the fire in Fairmount that killed 12 people last week.
Philadelphia Fire Commissioner Adam Thiel confirmed “with 99% certainty” that a Christmas tree first caught fire in the blaze. A lighter that was nearby was the source, likely lit by one of the surviving children.
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The fire broke out in the early-morning hours of Jan. 5. Fourteen people were inside the duplex. The blaze killed a family of 12, including nine children. They died of smoke inhalation.
Ultimately, two people survived: One evacuated through a window, and first responders rescued a 5-year-old on the second floor.
Investigators looked into the tree as a cause of the fire after the 5-year-old had talked about playing with a lighter near a Christmas tree.
“We would classify this fire as what we call incendiary,” said Thiel. “We don’t believe it occurred accidentally. We believe there was some type of human intervention to bring the ignition source to the first item ignited.”
The child was the only person on the second floor, with the tree and lighter, when the fire erupted, fire officials noted.
Thiel added in a statement, “We are left with the words of that traumatized five-year-old child to understand how the lighter and tree came together with tragic consequences, because our investigators have disproved other theories.”
There were six smoke alarms in the duplex — all were dismantled.
“Three of them were in a drawer in the kitchen, inoperable. One was in a bedroom drawer, inoperable. One was on the ceiling of a bedroom, but the battery was open and there was no battery inside. And there was another on the floor with no battery,” Thiel said.
Most of the victims were likely asleep in their beds when the fire broke out. With no smoke alarms and a dried-out tree, the blaze engulfed the duplex in 90 seconds — leaving little time, if any, for the victims to wake up and get out.
The Philadelphia Housing Authority owns the duplex and said it last inspected the two units in April and May 2021. All smoke detectors were operating properly at those times, PHA said.
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On Tuesday, the city identified the 12 victims as:
Dekwan Robinson
Destiny McDonald
Janiyah Roberts
J'Kwan Robinson
Natasha Wayne
Quientien Tate-McDonald
Quinsha White
Rosalee McDonald
Shaniece Wayne
Taniesha Robinson
Tiffany Robinson
Virginia Thomas
Investigators will release a final report in the coming months. Officials are not sure at this time if there would be an independent investigation.
Editor's note: Prior to Tuesday's press conference, the city had said 18 people were inside the duplex. The 12 dead included eight children.
The city now says 14 people were inside — one escaped, and a 5-year-old was rescued. Twelve died, including nine children.