This is probably one of the worst fires ever: Philadelphia Fire Department
The Philadelphia Housing Authority owned the property, according to the Fire Department, which stated that 26 individuals were in the building at the time of the fire.
Officials said a fire in a Philadelphia rowhouse on Wednesday morning killed 13, including seven children. It was one of the deadliest house fires in Philadelphia recent history.
During a press conference, Mayor Jim Kenney remarked, “This is without a doubt one of the most tragic days of our city’s history, the loss of so many people in such a tragic way. Losing so many kids is just devastating.”
A “heavy fire” broke out on the second floor of a rowhouse in Philadelphia’s Fairmount area at 6:40 a.m., according to the city’s fire department. According to the department, the blaze was put out in just over an hour.
A toddler was among the two transferred to nearby hospitals by Philadelphia Fire Department first deputy commissioner Craig Murphy after eight individuals fled the building.
“This is probably one of the worst fires I’ve ever been to,” he remarked, in his 35 years on the planet. To make sure that this terrible loss of life wasn’t in vain, we have big plans.
According to Mr. Murphy, the death toll is “dynamic because there is still an ongoing recovery effort inside. There were four smoke detectors in the building that were not working at the time of the fire”.
He stated there were 26 individuals in the building, including eight people on the first level.
Murphy said, “That is a tremendous amount of people to be living in a duplex,”
According to city officials, the Philadelphia Housing Authority, which receives federal funding, was in charge of the facility.
Officer Eric McLaurin, a spokesperson for the police department, said officers and firemen were dispatched to the 800 block of North 23rd Street at 6:38 a.m.
According to him, the blaze quickly spread to a property that had been divided into two apartments.
Television footage from nearby stations revealed extensive damage to the building’s roof after the fire appeared to be contained. There were soot rings around the windows of one rowhouse that had been broken out.
As of late Wednesday morning, a number of fire engines were still stationed nearby, their ladders extended alongside the structure.