‘Truly a tragedy': Girl, mother die as fire tears through North Philly rowhome

Flames tore through a North Philadelphia rowhome overnight, leaving who family friends say was a mother and one of her children dead and her other child and a man hospitalized.

"It was truly a tragedy," Philadelphia Fire Department Acting Executive Chief Daniel McCarty said on scene.

The smoky fire began inside the middle of the row along North 4th Street, north of West Indiana Avenue, in the Fairhill section of the city just before 3:40 a.m. on Friday, March 14, 2025, Philadelphia firefighters said.

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Firefighters found four people inside the house and two on the front porch, McCarty said on scene.

Inside the basement firefighters found two children, McCarty said. Family friends later said those two children -- ages 6 and 8 -- lived at the home with their mother and others.

It only took firefighters about 20 minutes to get the fire under control, according to social media alerts. However, it was too late for a young girl and a woman, McCarty later said.

The woman appeared to have broken her leg, McCarty said.

There were other people in the home at the time of the fire.

A young boy rescued from the basement was rushed to a children's hospital in extremely critical condition, firefighters said.

Two older people were rescued off the porch, which was deadbolted when firefighters arrived, McCarty said. Neither of them needed to be hospitalized.

A young man, later identified as Eliezer Gonzalez, could be seen being taken away from the scene on a stretcher.

Gonzalez returned to the home with white balloons to honor his girlfriend who died in the fire who he identified as Frances Colon. He spoke with NBC10 on Friday night about the harrowing experience.

"My son woke me up, because it was a fire. When my son woke me up, the fire was big. It was already big. I couldn’t do nothing. I tried to take the kids out," he said. "She [Frances] won’t come out. I grabbed her hand, 'Come on. We got to go out babe'."

Gonzalez said he believes his girlfriend would not leave, because she didn't want to leave the kids behind, but he tried to get everyone out. Eventually, he tried to keep the kids safe by getting them into a bathroom.

"Whether he was trying to secure them, to keep them safe, because there was a fire to try to make a way out. Sadly, our responders got here and had to rescue those children and one of them did pass away," Acting Executive Chief Daniel McCarty with the Philadelphia Fire Dept. said Friday.

On Friday evening, close family friends and well-wishers also stopped by the home to pay their respects.

"Frances was a good person. She always would help anybody. Let’s say somebody needed some food, she’d help them. She got a dollar, only a dollar in her pocket, she would give it to anybody that need it. She was always a good person," Gonzalez said. "I seen her. I’ve seen her in the hospital and all of that. I gave her a kiss, and I said goodbye."

The fire appeared to be mostly contained to the basement of the house where at least some of the people were living. McCarty said there was a lot of stuff in the basement, "hoarding type of conditions," which hindered the firefight.

No firefighters were injured, McCarty said.

Family friends later told NBC10's Siobhan McGirl that Frances and her two children lived with Gonzalez, his mother and his mother's partner in the house.

Neighbors said they had seen the young children outside the home playing on Thursday.

"You never anticipated a child losing life," neighbor Ana Vazquez said. "Just gotta keep the family in prayer, that's all you can really do right now."

The cause of the fire remained under investigation with the fire marshal on Friday looking at a door that was removed and placed on the sidewalk.