Philadelphia authorities reported that 12 people have died, eight of whom were children, in a massive blaze in a Philadelphia Housing Authority row home in the state's Fairmount neighborhood on Wednesday morning.
Firefighters were deployed to respond to the three-story row home fire located at 869 North 23rd Street at around 6:00 a.m. on Wednesday. When personnel arrived at the scene, they discovered a heavy blaze coming from the second floor of the building.
Massive Philadelphia Fire
In a statement, fire officials said that companies quickly began working to put out the fire; they eventually found bodies of several people inside. Later that night, authorities confirmed that the massive fire resulted in the death of 12 people, eight of whom were children.
The official confirmation of fatalities was one less than what officials provided during a press conference that was held on the morning of the fire. Authorities have not yet released information regarding the ages of the victims of the fire, Fox29 reported.
One fire official said that the number of fatalities caused by the massive blaze was "dynamic," indicating that the number of people killed in the incident could change as recovery efforts continue. During a news conference, Mayor Jim Kenney said that the latest fire was one of the most tragic days in the history of the city.
Kenney said that the loss of so many children was simply "devastating," urging everyone to pray for the lives that were taken too soon. It was previously reported by fire officials that there were 18 people who were living in the upstairs apartment known as Unit B. It comprised the 2nd and 3rd floors of the duplex. It was believed that eight other people lived on the first floor known as Unit A.
On the other hand, the Philadelphia Housing Authority said that they were aware of only 14 people living in Unit B when they last conducted occupancy recertification in October. Authorities did not immediately provide possible causes of the fire, but various sources said that investigators were determining whether or not the blaze was started when a child lit a Christmas tree fire, 6ABC reported.
Tragic Incident
A sister of three of the victims, Jacuita Purifoy, told reporters during an interview that she was in and out of consciousness all day after hearing about the news of her siblings. The only family relative that she knew survived the blaze was a five-year-old boy. The young child was brought to a hospital and was in stable condition.
The massive blaze is considered to be one of the deadliest residential fires in the country's recent history. One of the most recent fires that can be compared to this happened in 2019 when a fire killed five children at a daycare center in Erie, Pa. Another blaze that occurred in 2018 engulfed an apartment building in Chicago that left 10 children dead.
Property records showed that the century-old, three-story brick row house was bought in 1967 by the Philadelphia Housing Authority. The deputy fire commissioner of the area, Craig Murphy, said that there were around 26 people in the building at the time of the fire but said that about eight people were able to flee by themselves, the New York Times reported.
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