PA - 13 dead, including 7 children, in Philadelphia row house fire, Jan 2022

[sds71]

A "fatal fire" erupted at a Philadelphia row house Wednesday morning, the city's fire department said.

"Preliminary information indicates companies arrived at 6:40 a.m. and found heavy fire coming from the second floor of a three-story rowhouse," the Philadelphia Fire Department tweeted. "It took 50 minutes to place the fire under control."

[URL="https://www.fox29.com/news/13-dead-2-hurt-after-fire-inside-fairmount-row-home-sources-say"]13 dead, 2 hurt after fire inside Fairmount row home, sources say[/URL]

13 People Dead Following House Fire In Fairmount, Philadelphia Fire Department Confirms


Fatal fire breaks out at Philadelphia row house

 

[Shamrock1]

The two apartments are owned by Philadelphia Housing Authority per above articles.

IMO first civil suit will be filed within a week. Some very good injury attorneys here with extensive experience in fire deaths and suing PHA.

Smoke and carbon monoxide detectors please, everyone.

 

[Shamrock1]

“A house in Philadelphia’s Fairmount section that caught fire Wednesday morning has been owned by the Philadelphia Housing Authority by 1967, according to deed records. The city’s Department of Licenses & Inspections did not list any recent housing violations or inspections records.

Asked when PHA had last inspected the building, an agency spokesperson referred questions to a forthcoming press conference.”

Multiple people dead in large house fire in Philadelphia’s Fairmount section

 

[CocoChanel]

This one will be heartbreaking I fear.
Some of the 13 victims may well be children.
13 is too many when even 1 fire death is a tragedy.

Early reports are that there WERE smoke detectors in place.

Fairmount fire: 13 dead, 2 hurt following Philadelphia row home fire, sources say

Keeley reports that the home is a Philadelphia Housing Authority home and that investigators believe the home was equipped with working smoke alarms.

 

[sds71]

@CoconnellFox29
Philadelphia fire officials say there were 4 non-working smoke detectors in the duplex that killed 13 people including 7 children


@AaronKatersky
There were no working smoke detectors in the Philadelphia row house where 13 people, including children, died in a morning fire,
@PhillyFireDept
said. “It was terrible,” Dep. Com. Criag Murphy said. “This was one of the worst fires I’ve ever been to.”

@GeorgeSolis
FIRE OFFICIALS: There were four smoke detectors in building. None of them were working. 2020: PHA inspection showed six working detectors On occupancy: Preliminary numbers: 8 people lived in first floor unit Second/third floor unit: 18 people.
Mayor Kenney: All of our firefighters our police officers our first responders, many of have children and look at these children and these folk the way they look at their own families and are absorbing this and trying to deal with it

@KScott6abc
8 people lived on first floor unit. 18 people in 2nd and 3rd floor unit. Fire dept says “tremendous amount of people to be living in a duplex”

Ongoing recovery effort- 13 confirmed dead. 8 others got out of duplex themselves. Fire dept working with fire marshal office to determine cause of fire.

Transported 2 other occupants to hospitals- one to Chop and one to Temple.

 

[Shamrock1]

“There was heavy fire coming from a kitchen area on the second floor and heading up the staircase to the third floor, firefighters said.”
13, Including 7 Kids, Die in Fire That Tore Through Rowhome Converted Into Apartments

“Non-working” smoke detectors often mean someone disabled them. This can happen when, for example, the toast burns and the occupant disables the alarm and never replaces the batteries. (Can also mean the detectors just don’t work - they do expire after a period and an inspection should catch that). JMO.

 

[Shamrock1]

“At least 26 people were residing in the apartments spread over three floors of the duplex, according to preliminary information. Eight people escaped from the unit that covers the ground floor and rear of the second floor, Murphy said. There were 18 people living in the other unit, which included the front of the second floor and the entire third floor.

"That is a tremendous amount of people to be living a duplex," Murphy said.”

13 People, Including 7 Kids, Die in Fire That Tore Through Philly Rowhome

 

[CocoChanel]

Beyond devastating….7 CHILDREN….more than half the victims.
Philadelphia fire kills 13 people, including 7 children, officials say - CNN

 

[24Roses]

I'm in tears. This is the worst fire I have read about in a while. Prayers go out to all the emergency workers and family and friends who lost loved ones. Praying for healing for those who did survive.

 

[JoeFromLB]

Okay, so 26 people are living in one house that's been converted (legally or illegally?) into two apartments, the whole building owned by the Philadelphia Housing Authority!
What in the world?!

Lawsuits galore incoming, and hopefully some answers to many questions.

 

[MajorHoople]

LIVE: 13 dead, 2 hurt after fire in Philadelphia row home

posted Jan. 05, 2022 by FOX 29 Philadelphia

 

[al66pine]

Burnt Toast Syndrome or...?

....
“Non-working” smoke detectors often mean someone disabled them. This can happen when, for example, the toast burns and the occupant disables the alarm and never replaces the batteries. (Can also mean the detectors just don’t work - they do expire after a period and an inspection should catch that). JMO.

@Shamrock1 sbm bbm Thanks for your post. One other reason ppl remove alarm batteries is to use them, esp'ly in kids' toys.

Manufacturers' dilemma:
Use commonly available batteries like AA or 9 volt, so users can buy/keep on hand and replace as necessary. Less/no temptation to yank out for toys.
Use less commonly available batteries, usu more expensive, but users may tend not to keep/have extras on hand.

In this case, puzzling that at least 2 detectors were replaced in 2020 and batteries replaced the others, per the Phil. Housing Auth.*
So sad that w annual inspections did not prevent this.

Makes me wonder: someone disabling alarms or arson?

* Philadelphia fire kills at least 13, including 7 children

 

[Frannie]

A thought I just had. Never thought of this but during a fire the alarms could ring until the batteries die and it would be incorrect to say they were not working. Very, very sad story.

 

[Shamrock1]

Burnt Toast Syndrome or...?

@Shamrock1 sbm bbm Thanks for your post. One other reason ppl remove alarm batteries is to use them, esp'ly in kids' toys.

Manufacturers' dilemma:
Use commonly available batteries like AA or 9 volt, so users can buy/keep on hand and replace as necessary. Less/no temptation to yank out for toys.
Use less commonly available batteries, usu more expensive, but users may tend not to keep/have extras on hand.

In this case, puzzling that at least 2 detectors were replaced in 2020 and batteries replaced the others, per the Phil. Housing Auth.*
So sad that w annual inspections did not prevent this.

Makes me wonder: someone disabling alarms or arson?

* Philadelphia fire kills at least 13, including 7 children

We have some properties on the side. Our tenants are always taking down smoke/CO detectors. And most of our tenants are PhDs/MDs. I wouldn’t jump to anything nefarious: the alarms seem to always go off at 3am and it’s easy to forget to replace in the morning. I’m always, always lecturing them. JMO.

 

[Warwick1991]

We have some properties on the side. Our tenants are always taking down smoke/CO detectors. And most of our tenants are PhDs/MDs. I wouldn’t jump to anything nefarious: the alarms seem to always go off at 3am and it’s easy to forget to replace in the morning. I’m always, always lecturing them. JMO.

Another smoke detector issue to consider is how they were tested. I replaced some 30 year old smoke detectors when I moved into my current residence. Interestingly enough, pressing the “test” button indicated that the detectors were working, and they had little lights that indicated they were working. But they didn’t work - the only test that reliably tells whether they are working uses a wisp of smoke. The only thing the test button and light were really testing is whether they had a power source.

So, the residents might have disabled or removed the smoke detectors, or the smoke detectors might have been beyond their service life.

 

[Warwick1991]

18 people in one unit is quite strange for public housing. I’m sure we’ll hear more soon.

 

[zecats]

7 children among at least 13 dead after duplex fire in Fairmount section of Philadelphia

Investigators are looking into the possibility the blaze might have been sparked by a Christmas tree fire, sources say.

 

[sds71]

Family Shares Photos of Victims of Deadly Philly Fire

While officials have not yet identified them, family members provided photos of some of the victims to NBC10. The family did not reveal the names or ages of the victims but confirmed that everyone in the pictures died in the fire.

 

[zecats]

Family Shares Photos of Victims of Deadly Philly Fire

While officials have not yet identified them, family members provided photos of some of the victims to NBC10. The family did not reveal the names or ages of the victims but confirmed that everyone in the pictures died in the fire.

The procession of ambulances, airing on 6ABC just now of all 13 victims being transported from the residence to the medical examiner's facilities, emotional heaviness.

 

[MimosaMornings]

Family Shares Photos of Victims of Deadly Philly Fire

While officials have not yet identified them, family members provided photos of some of the victims to NBC10. The family did not reveal the names or ages of the victims but confirmed that everyone in the pictures died in the fire.

I have no words.