Three children and one man were killed in a house fire that engulfed both floors of a two-story rowhouse in Philadelphia early Sunday morning.
The fire at the home, located on Hartville Street in the Kensington neighborhood, was contained by 2.28am, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
‘Despite an aggressive interior attack by firefighters, four people did not survive; three of them were children,’ the fire department said in a statement.
One woman was hospitalized after she jumped from the second floor of the burning building. She is listed in stable condition at a local hospital, according to WCAU.
Photos of the early morning scene taken by a WTXF reporter show the block surrounded by an orange glow from the flames.
Video from the scene shows thick black smoke billowing from the building as first responders try to hose it down.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation. The names and ages of the victims have not been released.
Three children and one adult were killed in a fire at a rowhouse in North Philadelphia early Sunday morning
One woman was hospitalized after she jumped out of the burning building’s second floor. She is listed in stable condition as of Sunday morning
The fire at the home, located in the Kensington neighborhood, was contained by 2.28am
‘Despite a strong response by the PFD, it has been a devastating morning in Kensington,’ the fire department said in a tweet at 8am.
‘Please keep the community and our members in your thoughts.’
News video from the scene shows a fire truck lingering in the narrow street outside the rowhome after the fire was contained.
No other homes in the neighborhood appear to have been damaged.
Footage from the Citizen app shows thick clouds of smoke spewing out of the home during an otherwise quiet evening.
Neighbor Angel Rivera said he lost his best friend in the fire.
‘I said, “Where’s my best friend,” I said, “Are you kidding?” Are you sure he’s back there? Because the house is on fire I can’t go in there,'” he told WPVI.
He said he had spoken to the woman who jumped out.
‘He told her to make yourself out basically jump out the window and I’ll go out with the kids.. you know those were his last words,’ he said.
More than 60 people, including medics and support staff, responded to the early morning fire
More than 60 people, including medics and support staff, responded to the fire, according to the Inquirer.
In September 2020, a mother and three children were killed after a fire blazed through another rowhome in the Kensington neighborhood.
A 35-year-old woman was found downstairs, according to KYW.
Her sons, 9 and 17, and daughter, 11, were found upstairs. They were all pronounced dead at the scene.
And just in January, 12 people – including eight children – died in a fire at a public housing rowhouse in the city’s Fairmount neighborhood.
Investigators later said they were investigating whether a child ‘age 5 or under’ playing with a lighter near a Christmas tree started the fire, according to NBC News.