Christmas tree behind fire that killed 12, officials confirm

PHILADELPHIA – A Christmas histrion occurrence caused the blaze that killed 12 relatives successful a Philadelphia rowhome duplex, investigators confirmed Tuesday arsenic they identified victims and announced preliminary findings, but stopped abbreviated of officially saying a 5-year-old lad playing with a lighter was down it.

Fire Commissioner Adam Thiel hesitated to constituent blasted astatine a quality league Tuesday but said the lad was the lone idiosyncratic connected that floor. The boy, who survived the fire, told respective radical helium was playing with the lighter erstwhile the histrion caught fire, according to a hunt warrant issued past week.

“Investigators judge that lighter was the crushed the histrion ignited,” Thiel said. “We are near with the words of that 5-year-old child, that traumatized 5-year-old child, to assistance america recognize however the lighter and the histrion came unneurotic with tragic consequences.”

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None of six fume alarms wrong the two-story portion were working, Thiel said, and astir had been seemingly been removed since an inspection the metropolis lodging authorization said it conducted past year. One alarm successful a shared basement did enactment but activated late, helium said.

As galore arsenic 18 radical lived oregon stayed successful the portion astatine assorted times, officials said previously.

The 12 radical who died were each connected the 3rd floor, Thiel said Tuesday. One was recovered live but died astatine the scene.

Firefighters arrived wrong minutes astatine the duplex adjacent the Philadelphia Museum of Art, but it was already excessively late, Thiel said. The lone different subsister was a antheral who jumped retired of a third-floor window.

“There was zero visibility,” said Thiel, noting that temperatures reached astir 1,000 degrees astatine the ceiling. “Toxic fume filling the full building. And it’s large successful a fire.

“Rest assured, those firefighters did their level best, arsenic our medics did their champion to prevention those lives,” helium said. “Sometimes we are excessively late.”

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The three-story ceramic duplex was owned by the Philadelphia Housing Authority, which is the city’s nationalist lodging bureau and the state’s biggest landlord.

Housing officials said past week that the building, which had a abstracted little unit, had 13 tamper-resistant, 10-year detectors, each of which were operational during the past inspection successful May 2021.

Three sisters — Rosalee McDonald, Virginia Thomas and Quinsha White — and 9 of their children died successful the blaze, according to household members. The blaze was the deadliest occurrence successful Philadelphia successful much than a century.

The metropolis connected Tuesday identified the different victims arsenic Quintien Tate-McDonald, Destiny McDonald, Dekwan Robinson, J’Kwon Robinson, Taniesha Robinson, Tiffany Robinson, Shaniece Wayne, Natasha Wayne and Janiyah Roberts. Officials did not supply their ages.

Fires involving Christmas trees are overmuch much apt to beryllium fatal than different types of location fires due to the fact that they go afloat engulfed truthful quickly, according to the National Fire Protection Association, a nonprofit information group. There are astir 160 Christmas histrion fires each twelvemonth successful the U.S., and they origin 2 deaths, the radical said.

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Wednesday’s blaze had been the deadliest occurrence successful years astatine a U.S. residential gathering but was surpassed Sunday by a occurrence successful a high-rise successful New York City's Bronx borough that killed 17 people, including respective children.

Flames damaged lone a tiny portion of that 19-story gathering successful the Bronx, but fume poured done the gathering aft tenants fleeing the portion wherever the blaze began near the flat doorway unfastened down them successful their hurry to escape, officials said.

Before the Philadelphia blaze, the Bronx had besides held the favoritism for a caller deadly fire, 1 that killed 13 people, according to information from the National Fire Protection Association. That occurrence started aft a 3-year-old lad was playing with stove burners.

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This communicative was archetypal published Jan. 11, 2022. It was updated Jan. 12, 2022, to close the names of 2 of the occurrence victims. They are Quintien Tate-McDonald, not Quientien, and J’Kwon Robinson, not J’Kwan.

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