Philadelphia duplex fire kills 13 people
PHILADELPHIA — Fire tore through a duplex home early Wednesday in Philadelphia, killing 13 people, including seven children, fire officials said. At least two people were sent to hospitals, and officials warned that the toll could grow as firefighters searched the rowhouse where 26 people had been staying.
The four smoke alarms in the building, which was public housing, do not appear to have been working, fire officials said. While the blaze’s cause hasn’t been determined, officials were shaken by the death toll and vowed to get to the bottom of it.
Officials did not release the names or ages of those killed in the blaze, which started before 6:30 a.m. As many as eight residents escaped the fire, which burned in a residential area of the Fairmount neighborhood, northwest of downtown and home to the Philadelphia Museum of Art and its famous “Rocky steps.”
Fire crews saw flames shooting from the second-floor front windows in an area believed to be a kitchen, said First Deputy Fire Commissioner Craig Murphy. The odd configuration of the building — originally a single-family home that had been split into two apartments — made it difficult to navigate, he said. Crews brought it under control in less than an hour, he said.
There were 18 people staying in the upstairs apartment, and eight staying in the downstairs apartment, he said.
The alarms had been inspected annually, and at least two had been replaced in 2020, with batteries replaced in the others at that time, Philadelphia Housing Authority officials said, adding that the previous inspection was in May 2021.