A dozen people were killed, including eight children, in an apartment building fire Wednesday morning in what city officials called a “tremendous loss of life.”
Hours after the blaze, the Philadelphia Fire Department cautioned the death toll could change as the building was secured and searched. On Wednesday evening, the department lowered its report of deaths to 12 from an initial report of 13.
The fire is among the city’s deadliest ever, and its cause has not yet been determined. Officials vowed to continue investigating.
As the building burned, eight people were able to escape. A child and another person were also taken to a hospital for treatment, Philadelphia Fire Department First Deputy Fire Commissioner Craig Murphy said in a news conference.
In a procession of seven police vehicle, including four vans, the bodies of the victims were removed from the burned-out building Wednesday night.
The building was a Philadelphia Housing Authority property, and the cause of the fire remains under investigation, Murphy said. The fire occurred on North 23rd Street, according to the Philadelphia Fire Department. The building was a house that had been converted into two apartments, Officer Miguel Torres with the Philadelphia Police Department told USA TODAY.
“I’ve been around for 35 years now, and this is probably one of the worst fires I’ve ever been to,” Murphy said.
Firefighters responded to the fire at around 6:40 a.m. and found “heavy fire” on the second story of a three-floor rowhouse, the Philadelphia Fire Department said in a tweet. It took about 50 minutes to get the fire under control, the department said.
On Wednesday, family and friends had identified victims as two adult sisters and several of their young children who lived in the upstairs unit. Police and fire officials had yet to identify the victims.
Longtime Fairmount resident Ronald Umbrey lives on Judson Street and recalled seeing children play around the residence.
“I lived here for 25 years and never seen such a fire. I didn’t know anyone who lived there personally, but anytime someone perished in a fire, it had to bad,” Umbrey said. “ I don’t know if they had prior issues or whatever, but [the residence] just didn’t look safe to me … People move in and out fairly often so I don’t know.”
The building was last inspected in May 2021, and the smoke detectors were working properly then, Philadelphia Housing Authority President and CEO Kelvin A. Jeremiah said in a statement posted to Facebook.
“This unimaginable loss of life has shaken all of us at PHA. It is too early for us to say more,” Jeremiah said.
At least 18 people were living in the upper apartment, which included the third floor and part of the second, and eight people were living in the lower unit, which included the first floor and the other part of the second, Murphy said. The deputy fire commissioner said he could not say whether that was more than what would be allowed, but called it a “tremendous amount of people to be living in a duplex.”
Murphy said the fire marshal would investigate the cause of the fire. Officials with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were also at the scene. Murphy said that the fire was “not necessarily considered suspicious” but that the investigation would be “all hands on deck.”
“We plan on making sure that this tremendous loss of life did not happen in vain,” he said.
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, in a statement, said his office was not involved at this time, but prepared to act if a criminal investigation is warranted.
“The city owes it to the victims, the survivors, and to all Philadelphians to conduct a thorough investigation into this travesty, so that we can make sure it never happens again,” he said, adding that “housing stability and housing health” are public safety issues.
A few neighbors gathered on the corner of 22nd and Brown streets, and the loss of lives of several children weighed heavily.
“I didn’t know the residents, but I do remember seeing children coming and going,” said Jasmine Stokes, who said she lived nearby. “I heard a commotion around sunrise and later my neighbors told me what happened.
“Were there working smoke alarms? That was a big place and it’s a shame that children lost there lives. I wonder if it could have been prevented somehow.”
Rebecca Miller lives on nearby Ogden Street. Stepping outside her house at about 7 a.m. she could only see smoke, fire trucks, and hear a terrible sound.
“It sounded like an adult woman screaming,” she said. The screams continued for about five minutes, Miller said.
Abigail Danz said she saw the billowing smoke from her apartment balcony near the Art Museum.
“It was a big plume. First it was whitish, then it turned real dark. I don’t know how long it was burning, but the fire must have been serious because the smoke was [billowing] for at least 30 minutes,” she said.
The scene in the Fairmount neighborhood remains active where the building’s blackened out top window lay witness to the charred inside, the fire department said. Later in the day a tarp was set up as crews worked inside.
At the corner of 23rd and Parrish Street, a Philadelphia Police Officer asked the victims’ families to step away from the scene.
Friends, relatives and neighbors stood in the street, not wanting to see but unable to look away. Some gasped. Others let forth a fountain of tears.
Mayor Jim Kenney, whose father was a firefighter, called the incident “one of the most tragic days in our city’s history.”
“Losing so many kids is just devastating,” Kenney said.
Gov. Tom Wolf released a statement and urged those ho need it to reach out to mental health resources in the state.
“My heart goes out to the loved ones left to cope with this heartbreaking loss of life. Thank you to the brave first responders who got the fire under control,” Wolf said.
Neighbors were at a loss as they surveyed the damage. The early-morning blaze left many neighbors in a mixed state of shock, anger and sadness. Some reported being awaken by sirens and seeing the smoke.
“The fire department and police just allowed us back in a few hour or so ago, and I still can’t believe the destruction and loss of life,” said Avery McDonald, a nursing student at Temple University who lives on Parrish Street. “I sort of felt helpless, but I don’t know what could have been done to save those people … I didn’t know the people. But my heart hurts just the same.”
Carol and James Miller watched the fire from there home on nearby 22nd Street.
Carol Miller said she initially did not think the fire would be a serious. Later, she stepped out of the house and saw ambulance workers pushing gurneys.
She said she often passed the home and saw many children playing nearby.
“You would see kids,” she said. “They liked to pet the dogs and zoom around on their bikes.”
Neighbors said it will take time to recover.
Patrick Cooms works at a hardware store on Fairmount Avenue and lives around the corner from it, and said he was struck wide awoke by the sirens.
“I didn’t see any smoke, but I could smell it in the air. The sirens seemed to go on a long time … I didn’t know anyone that lived on that particular block but I have friends who live on Poplar Street, and they were all shaken by the fire.”
Bucks County Courier Times staff writer James McGinnis contributed to this report.
