Cause of Philadelphia house fire still unknown
PHILADELPHIA – City and federal investigators worked to determine the cause of a blaze that killed 12 people in a Philadelphia rowhome but had no immediate answers Thursday, cautioning the fire scene was complex and that it would take some time to determine what happened.
Specialists from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives took photos and entered the charred, three-story brick duplex, where the city’s deadliest single blaze in more than a century took the lives of two sisters, several of their children and others early Wednesday.
“I know that we will hopefully be able to provide a specific origin and cause to this fire and to provide some answers to the loved ones and, really, to the city,” said Matthew Varisco, who leads the ATF’S Philadelphia branch.
The building is owned by the Philadelphia Housing Authority, the city’s public housing agency and the state’s biggest landlord.
Fourteen people were authorized to live in the four-bedroom upper apartment that “suffered the tragedy,” according to Kelvin Jeremiah, the housing authority’s president and CEO, while six people were on the lease in the lower unit.
When the family upstairs became tenants in 2011, there were six people – a grandmother, her three daughters and two of their children, Jeremiah said. He said the family grew over the next decade to add another eight children.
PHA “does not evict people because they have children,” Jeremiah said.
“This was an intact family who chose to live together. We don’t kick out our family members … who might not have other suitable housing options,” he said.
Jeremiah, who struggled to keep his composure at times, said the authority has reached out to the surviving family members from both units to help rehouse them.
Fire officials provided few details at a separate news briefing, declining to say how many people escaped the blaze or speculate on a possible cause. They also did not say where the fire began, calling it part of the investigation.