3 dead including child, 1 in critical condition after fire in Chester, Pennsylvania, chief says

Three people are dead and another is hospitalized after a rowhome fire in Chester, Pennsylvania, early Wednesday morning, officials say.

Firefighters were called out to a burning home on the 200 block of Jeffrey Street around 2:30 a.m., Chester Fire Commissioner John-Paul Shirley said at the scene.

A man in his 70s was rescued from the fire and taken to the hospital in critical condition. His partner, their daughter and their granddaughter died in the fire, Shirley said. The daughter was in her 30s and the child was around 11 years old, Shirley added.

As crews continued clearing the scene, investigators found the bodies of the girl and her mother just before 5 p.m. They said the mother's arms were wrapped around the child.

Crews dealt with hoarding conditions and a partial collapse that hindered the firefight, Shirley added.

"When you have a fire and the house is filled with smoke and there's zero visibility, it just makes the job 10 times harder," Shirley said.

Video from the scene showed heavy flames around the second floor and roof of the home.

The American Red Cross said it is providing emergency support to two people because of the fire.

The deadly fire has left the Chester community reeling.

"That's sad," Anthony Brooks, a neighbor, said. "I got two sons — I got an 18-year-old and a 12-year-old, and I would be heartbroken if that was the case."

Breon Triggs, a 19-year-old neighbor, was across the street when he saw the fire happened and saw smoke coming from the house. He said the seeing that fire that close has given him a new perspective on how he wants to live each day.

"Try to push myself to move in a good way, great way, respectful way," he said.