Rooftop Rescue in Deadly Row Home Fire

2 woman die, 2 women rescued from boarding home

Two women are dead, another woman was critically hurt and a fourth woman was rescued in a West Philadelphia row home fire Thursday afternoon.

NBC10 cameras were on the scene of the one-alarm fire on the 4100 hundred block of Pennsgrove Street.

Firefighters say they were battling heavy flames after the fire was called in around 3:30 p.m. The second and third stories of the home were fully engulfed, authorities said.

On the scene told Fire Commissioner Lloyd Ayers NBC10's Rosemary Connors that two women were found dead on the third story of the home. Four people were home at the time of the blaze in what Ayers described as a boarding-home type of building.

Two women -- believed to be a mother and daughter -- were found dead on the third floor of the home, Ayers said.

Another woman was found in the home unconscious and firefighters were able revive that woman. She was in critical condition Thursday night, Ayers said.

Firefighters say another woman was rescued from the roof of the home and taken to the hospital.

A fifth person who lives in the home wasn't home at time of the blaze, Ayers said.

The fire was brought under control at 4:03 p.m., firefighters said.

Ayers says the fire appeared to start on the second floor but the investigation is ongoing. It also appears that the whole home was being supplied by an illegal gas hookup, Ayers said.

It also appears that there were no working fire alarms in the building, Ayers said.

Fire investigators were on the scene early Thursday night to try and figure out exactly what happened.


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