PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia fire officials are still investigating the Sunday morning row home fire that left a father and his three children dead. The wife and mother jumped out of a second-story window and was the only one who survived.
The neighborhood and the Lewis Elkin Elementary community, where two of the kids went to school, established a fundraising campaign to support her.
Lewis Elkin principal Charlotte Maddox said grief counselors and therapy dogs are available for students and staff. People left prayer candles, balloons and stuffed animals on the stoop of the home.
One staffer, who did not want to be named, said she lives very close to where the fire happened. She’s shaken up and devastated for the family. She said raising money for the woman who survived is the very least they can do right now.
One parent, Drea, who did not provide her last name, said she had a tough conversation with her daughter before dropping her off for school on Monday.
Related Jawncast: Fire Commissioner Adam Thiel says the city has a fire problem after 3 children and 1 adult died in a rowhome fire in Kensington.
“It’s sad because I was just telling my daughter she might have known a couple of the students because they said they went to the school. I was just informing her about it. It’s sad. It’s real sad,” she said.
School officials started a GoFundMe page for the woman, raising thousands more than the initial goal of $5,000. As of Monday morning, donations have surpassed $10,000.
The American Red Cross is also assisting the family, both financially and with counselors.
The fire broke out around 2 a.m. on Hartville Street, near E Street and Allegheny Avenue, in Kensington, just a few blocks away from the kids’ school. Despite firefighters arriving within minutes, the four perished in the fire.
Fire officials said the home did not have working smoke alarms.
Sunday’s fire comes in the wake of the tragic Fairmount fire in January that killed 12 members of one family, including nine children. A Christmas tree caught fire, and all the smoke alarms in the home had been dismantled.
So far this year, 21 people have been killed in fires across Philadelphia — more fires per capita than anywhere else. In comparison, 37 people were killed in fires in all of 2021.
Since January, fire officials have installed more than 4,000 smoke alarms around the city, but they’re still seeing fires in homes with none working.
The Philadelphia Fire Department provides free fire safety checks and can install working alarms. Residents can simply call 311 for help.
Principal Maddox said the school is going to do more to teach students about fire safety in the days and weeks ahead, and make sure families have smoke detectors installed properly.
The cause of Sunday’s fire hasn’t yet been determined.
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