A 2-year-old boy and three family members were injured as fire burned in a Northeast Philadelphia home without working smoke detectors Monday morning, firefighters and police say.
The fire broke out in a row home along Kendrick Street near Torresdale Avenue in the city’s Holmesburg section before daybreak. Neighbors woke up after 5:30 a.m. to the smell of smoke and people screaming.
"I hear someone out back yelling 'help me, help me,'" neighbor Dave Landhart said.
Firefighters arrived a short time later to find heavy smoke pouring out of the three-level home, Philadelphia Fire Department Deputy Chief Vincent Mulray said at the scene.
Firefighters rescued a man and woman in their 50s, a 29-year-old woman and the 2-year-old boy from the various floors of the home, Philadelphia police said.
Medics transported the rescued people, who are all related, from the scene to Jefferson Torresdale Hospital where doctors treated them for smoke inhalation, police said. They fire victims are expected to be released.
Firefighters found a dead animal on the second floor of the home, Mulray said.
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Firefighters also removed a charred door from the home.
The blaze appeared to have begun in the basement and smoke spread through the home, investigators said.
"There were no working smoke alarms in this property," Mulray said.
A large fire response presence closed Torresdale Avenue near Strahle Street as firefighters asked the public to avoid the area. Cold weather caused water used to douse the blaze to freeze, slowing firefighters efforts, Mulray said.
