A fire burned through a rowhome in North Philadelphia, killing a 6-year-old girl and her mother. Investigators are now working to find out the cause of the fire. NBC10’s Siobhan McGirl has the latest.
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.
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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 -- believed to be in his 20s -- could be seen being taken away from the scene on a stretcher. He appeared to be conscious and was listed in stable condition with smoke inhalation, firefighters said.
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.
Investigators said they believed that man had tried to keep the kids safe by getting them into a bathroom in the basement, but his efforts failed.
No firefighters were injured, McCarty said.
Family friends later told NBC10's Siobhan McGirl that the woman and her two children lived with the man -- her boyfriend -- the boyfriend's 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.
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