Woman killed, girl in critical condition after fire at South Philadelphia home
A woman was killed and a 4-year-old girl was hospitalized in critical condition after a fire broke out at a South Philadelphia home Friday morning, according to police.
The fire was called out just before 5 a.m. in a rowhome on the 2600 block of South Mildred Street, a residential block just off Oregon Avenue.
Crews arrived to find heavy fire on the first floor, Philadelphia Fire Department Executive Chief Daniel McCarty said at the scene.
Video obtained by CBS News Philadelphia shows a man running around and panicked as thick black smoke filled the block. The video then shows an eruption of flames from what sources say were lithium batteries from an e-bike that was in the living room.
Sources say the investigation points to an e-bike in the living room.
A total of three people were rescued from the home, including two women and a girl. All three were taken to area hospitals and a woman believed to be a grandmother was later pronounced dead, fire officials say.
The other woman, believed to be the child's mother, is also in the hospital. Officials believe she jumped from a second-floor window to safety. The fire department says she is in stable condition.
"They are good friends of mine, and they're like my family," Ronnie Mirchandani, the landlord of the property, said. "I'm sorry for their loss, and I hope God … they are in my prayers."
According to neighbors, the family has lived here since January.
It appears the victims were awoken by the fire and trying to escape, McCarty said.
Investigators initially said the home did not have working smoke detectors, but after the landlord showed CBS News Philadelphia video of numerous detectors, the fire department responded and said investigators did find melted smoke detectors that were working when the fire broke out.
"There were working smoke alarms when the fire broke out," a fire department spokesperson said.
"I heard really loud screaming, and that's something that you don't hear very often on this block," neighbor Chris Adams said. "When I came outside, that's when I saw the fire department was here."
The blaze was brought under control in about 15 minutes, McCarty said.
Video from the Citizen App and Chopper 3 showed fire trucks and ambulances lining Oregon Avenue and smoke hanging in the air.
There's no word on what started the fire.
