What to Know
- A quick-moving fire claimed two lives in Wilmington, Delaware, early Tuesday morning.
- Neighbors along the 1110 block of Clifford Brown Walk were horrified as they couldn't help due to the intense flames.
- "There were two of them up there that never made it out," a neighbor said.
Two people died after being trapped in a Wilmington, Delaware, house overnight as flames quickly engulfed the row home. Two firefighters were hurt battling the blaze.
Neighbors said they saw flames coming from the home on the 1110 block of Clifford Brown Walk around 12:20 a.m. Tuesday. They watched helplessly as they saw two neighbors try to break a second-floor window to escape.
"One of the gentlemen was at the window, trying to get out -- he broke the window to get out -- but he never made it out," neighbor Donald Brown said.
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Brown said the man who was at the window "was just hollering 'it's hot, it's hot.'"
Neighbors said the man who was trapped was with a friend.
"There were two of them up there that never made it out," Brown said. "There was nothing I could do."
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It was a fast-moving blaze jumping from the first floor to the second floor in what neighbors said seemed like seconds. When firefighters arrived the staircase was engulfed in flames.
In total, 49 Wilmington firefighters and EMS personnel responded to the blaze, the fire department said. Two firefighters were treated for injuries and released from the hospital, authorities said.
The destructive fire would also spread to surrounding row homes, firefighters said.
Firefighters said that three people were able to escape the flames. None of the people involved have been identified.
The fire damage left about six to eight people out of their homes.
The cause of the fire remained under investigation Tuesday morning.
