CHESTER, P.A. (KYW Newsradio) — A woman is dead after a fire broke out at a house in Chester, Delaware County around 8 a.m. Thursday morning.
The blaze woke neighbor Marnecha Williams from her sleep.
“I just heard my mom screaming in the window telling me that the lady’s house was on fire,” she said. “We looked out the window and seen a bunch of smoke. The whole sky was filled with smoke.”
Officials said fire crews were quick on the scene at 1428 Congress Street near Route 13 and struck a second alarm when they observed residents jumping from a second story window to escape the fire.
Authorities said one of the people who jumped from the window, Jennifer Patterson, sustained life-threatening injuries from the jump. Police performed CPR on Patterson before she was taken to Crozer-Chester Medical Center, where she died from her injuries.
Terry Newsome shared a four-year-old daughter with Patterson, said he “flew over” to the house as soon as he heard about what happened.
“My cousin called me and said: ‘Check on Jen, I think her house caught on fire.’ Then he called back a couple seconds later and said they said she passed,” said Newsome.
He said his daughter made it out of the house and is uninjured, but asked the community to stand by the family in this difficult time.
“Just look out for my daughter,” Newsome said. “If you loved her, you loved her daughter, she had three of them.”
Officials continue to investigate the cause of the fire, and said one other person was taken to the hospital because of the blaze.
Chester Mayor Stefan Roots said he was "heartbroken" by Patterson's loss.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of the deceased," he said.