What to Know
- At least 13 people died as flames tore through a Philadelphia rowhome converted into apartments in the city’s Fairmount neighborhood Wednesday morning.
- The cause of the blaze in the Philadelphia Housing Authority-owned home on North 23rd Street is not yet known. Twenty-six people were living inside the duplex at the time.
- “This is without a doubt one of the most tragic days in our city’s history, the loss of so many people in such a tragic way,” Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said.
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At least 13 people, including children, died early Wednesday when a quick-moving fire tore through a crowded Philadelphia rowhome that had been converted into two apartments and is owned by the city’s public housing authority.
“This is without a doubt one of the most tragic days in our city’s history, the loss of so many people in such a tragic way,” Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said with tears in his eyes.
The fire began around 6:40 a.m. on the second floor of the rowhome duplex along the 800 block of North 23rd Street, near Ogden Street, in the dense residential Fairmount neighborhood, Philadelphia police and fire officials said. The house is owned by the Philadelphia Housing Authority, according to city records.
At least 13 people, including seven children, died and two others, including a child, were left in critical condition. The number of dead could still rise, officials said.
At least eight people were able to escape the burning duplex, Philadelphia Fire Department Deputy Commissioner Craig Murphy said.
A neighbor said he heard screams around 6:30 a.m. and came downstairs to see flames coming out of the building.
“It was just such a shocking moment,” he said.
The death toll from the fire is Philadelphia’s worst in memory, and nearly twice as deadly as the 2014 blaze in the southwest section of the city where seven people, including four children, perished.
Firefighters are still searching for a cause for Wednesday’s fire. Sources said investigators are looking at how the fire spread so fast and the possibility that a Christmas tree went up in flames fueling the deadly blaze.
“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.”
There was heavy fire coming from a kitchen area on the second floor and heading up the staircase to the third floor, Murphy said while noting there was little to stop the flames from moving.
As firefighters battled the flames, they quickly discovered multiple people dead in the home.
“It was terrible,” Murphy, a veteran of decades fighting fires, said of the scene.
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 in a duplex,” Murphy said.
Firefighters said the two most seriously injured people were rescued from the home. Murphy said the rescues happened “quickly” once firefighters got to the injured people.
“I knew some of those kids — I used to see them playing on the corner,” said Dannie McGuire, 34, fighting back tears as she and Martin Burgert, 35, stood in the doorway of a home around the corner. They had lived there for a decade, she said, “and some of those kids have lived here as long as us.”
“Losing so many kids, it’s just devastating… keep these babies in your prayers,” Kenney said.
The fire appeared to be out by 10 a.m., with ladders leaning against the building near the corner about three hours after the fire began. Firefighters could be seen being going in and out of the rowhome, which had parts of the roof cutout.
There were six working battery-operated smoke detectors installed in the building, but none were operational at the time of the blaze, firefighters said.
“This unimaginable loss of life has shaken all of us at PHA,” PHA President & CEO Kelvin A. Jeremiah said in a printed statement. “It is too early for us to say more. The property was last inspected in May 2021, and all the smoke detectors were operating properly at that time.”
Elected officials were left shaken and grieving at the scene of a Philadelphia fire that killed 13 people, including seven children. NBC10’s Johnny Archer spoke with State Sen. Sharif Street, who represents the area. He said the number of people living in the home shows the depth of Philadelphia’s housing crisis.
The only ways in and out of the homes were front and rear doors, Murphy said.
The apartments are within walking distance of Girard College, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and other city institutions.
The exact cause of the fire wasn’t immediately revealed and the fire marshal and ATF were investigating.
Murphy said investigators would make sure the loss of life “wasn’t in vain.”
NBC10 has reporters at the scene and this story will continue to be updated.