By Ryan Steal
According to Philadelphia’s fire department, a fire at a public housing building in killed at least 12 people on Wednesday morning. The dead in the two-unit rowhouse in Philadelphia’s Fairmount district include eight children.
Just after 6:30 a.m., the Philadelphia Fire Department arrived in the 800 block of North 23rd Street only to find heavy flames.
Authorities confirmed that the victims are between the ages of 2 and 33.
“It was terrible,” Philadelphia Deputy Fire Commissioner Craig Murphy said during a press conference. “I’ve been around for 30, 35 years now and this is probably one of the worst fires I’ve ever been to.”
According to Murphy, the number of victims is “dynamic” because the recovery work is still underway.
Eight individuals were rescued from the structure, and two more were rushed to CHOP and Temple University Hospital.
Mayor Jim Kenney of Philadelphia described the loss of so many children as “devastating. “Keep these babies in your prayers,” the mayor told reporters
On dispatch audio, it could be heard saying, “We’re getting multiple calls, reported people inside.”
The moments the row home went up in flames are captured on dispatch radio and mobile phone video. At least 26 individuals lived in the multi-unit.
“We got heavy fire filling the second floor, heavily smoke third floor, prepare for rescue,” could be heard on dispatch radio.
Firefighters battled the blaze fiercely from the time they arrived.
According to fire officials, heavy fire broke out in the kitchen area on the second story.
By 7:31 a.m., firefighters had brought the fire under control.
The building was partitioned into three apartments, Murphy says. According to reports, the first-floor unit had eight individuals living in it, while the second and third-floor units housed 18 people.
The “odd layout” of the multi-unit building could have made a safe escape impossible.
“Other than front door and rear entrance, because of the odd configuration of the house, all I know of is two exits,” Murphy explained.
Licenses and Inspections will assess if it was permissible for that many persons to dwell in each unit, officials say.
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