PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Twelve people have died in a fire that broke out Wednesday in a multi-family home in Philadelphia's Fairmount neighborhood. Among the dead are eight children.
It is the deadliest fire in Philadelphia in more than 100 years.
Philadelphia police say it started just after 6:30 a.m. inside a three-story row home at North 23rd and Ogden streets that had been converted into apartments. That's about a block from Eastern State Penitentiary. The scene finally cleared at about 8:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Preliminary information from the Philadelphia Fire Department indicates that companies arrived at 6:40 a.m. and found heavy fire coming from the second floor of the building. It took 50 minutes to get the fire under control.
The cause of the fire is unknown, and it is unclear if the victims died from the fire itself or from smoke inhalation. The surrounding streets are blocked off as investigators go in and out of the house, and the investigation is fluid and ongoing.
"It's not necessarily considered suspicious, but we have all hands on deck based on the magnitude of this fire," said Deputy Fire Commissioner Craig Murphy.
“There was heavy fire in what would be from the kitchen area, the front of the second floor, and then there was an open stairwell to the third floor. There was nothing slowing that fire down.”
Murphy choked up as he confirmed that at least seven children were among at least 13 reported dead at the time. He said then the death count could change as the recovery effort continued. Later Wednesday night, authorities revised the report, saying that 12 had died, including eight children.
"I don't have the words for how we're feeling right now as a community and as a department," Murphy said.
"I've been around for 30, 35 years now, and this is probably one of the worst fires I've ever been to."
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There were 26 residents in the multi-family duplex, which is owned by the Philadelphia Housing Authority, according to city property records. One unit was the first floor and rear of second floor. Eight people lived there. The other unit occupied the front of the second floor and entire third floor. Eighteen people lived there.
He says the only ways in and out of the apartments were through the front and rear doors. Eight people were able to get themselves out, Murphy said, and two of the most seriously injured were rescued from the home and are now in critical condition, including a child taken to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and another fire victim taken to Temple University Hospital.
He said there were four smoke detectors in the building, and none of them was working. A PHA representative told KYW Newsradio that they last inspected the property in May 2021, and all smoke detectors were operating properly at that time.
PHA released an official statement expressing sympathy and a commitment to support residents: "This unimaginable loss of life has shaken all of us at PHA. It is too early for us to say more. ... The Fire Department, ATF 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."
Witnesses to unspeakable tragedy
The acrid odor of smoke and charred ruins was perceptible from at least a block or two away. The mood at the scene was somber, as neighbors gathered, standing around in shock, looking up, and taking in the enormity of the loss of human life.
"I'd say about 6:30, I just started hearing the screams," said a neighbor, who says he witnessed the whole thing Wednesday morning. "I thought maybe it was just, you know, living in Philly, you have people all hours of the night, morning, screaming. Sometimes it happens. But it kept going. And so I guess the whole block must have woken up."
He said he and a number of neighbors watched helplessly as flames shot from the building. He said he didn't see anyone trying to escape.
"We came downstairs and, sure enough, there were flames immediately just pouring out of the second floor," he said.
He said he didn't know any of the victims of the fire, but he acknowledged the tragedy that is touching the whole neighborhood.
"Living here for a couple of years, I've seen people constantly coming and going -- pretty, fairly busy corner over there. So it's just sad to think that, you know, some of those people might have perished and just want to think about the victims and their families and friends at this time."
Wayne Brooks, a neighbor and former firefighter, says he first realized there was something wrong when he saw the rescue squad in front of the PHA building. Then he started to see injured people around the neighborhood, then the fire engines, then the helicopters.
"As a firefighter, I kind of knew there had to be something really bad that had happened, because they were on the scene too long. From 6 a.m. to about 9 a.m.," he said.
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"This has got to be one of the biggest fatalities of Philadelphia ... in a single fire in the last five years."
Brooks said a situation like this is difficult for any firefighter to overcome.
"I see a lot of guys, they take it personal, because they see their own. It's like it's their own child that has passed and it's really hard," he said.
The nearby Bache-Martin School, where the Red Cross was offering care and assistance, was being used as a sort of ground zero for displaced residents and their families to recover.
The mother and the cousin of two boys who escaped the fire said they were in the hospital. One of the children had a burn on his arm; the other was burned on his head.
The emotions on display were very fluid. One minute, people were laughing and consoling, and then all of a sudden someone would scream, or people would just begin to embrace each other.
An insider's perspective on Philadelphia firefighting
KYW Newsradio anchor Michelle Durham trained as a firefighter, and she knows a lot about how fires are fought, especially in Philadelphia.
She said unfortunately a lot of homes in Fairmount are no longer single-family dwellings. They have been converted into apartments, which poses a challenge because firefighters have to identify how to get in and then rapidly pull as many people as they can out of the building.
"So much of your home is made with items that are plastic, that is petroleum based. So not only does it burn hotter and faster than natural fibers, but it also gives off a toxic gas. And this is why smoke alarms and a fire escape plan are so important, because you have less time than you did 50 years ago to get out of your home," she said.
Durham said the investigation will be led by the Fire Department, and will involve the Police Department, the Philadelphia fire marshal's office, and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
"They will find the cause of the fire and then they spread out from there. And then they will determine, you know, what was at fault," she said.
"I cannot stress to you enough how important it is to have a smoke alarm on every level of your home. And for those of you who live in densely populated areas North Philadelphia, Northeast Philadelphia, South Philadelphia, please consider having a fire ladder under your bed -- you know, the kind that attaches to your windowsill so you can climb down."
Stay with KYW Newsradio for more on this developing story. KYW Newsradio Staff contributed to this report.