Woman killed, four injured in Gloucester County fire that destroyed two homes

A 54-year-old woman was killed in a fierce Thursday morning blaze at a Gloucester County home, police said.

Just after 4 a.m., firefighters received a call for a fire at a house on Tatum Street in West Deptford, police said in a statement. When first responders arrived, the house was fully engulfed in flames, with the fire spreading to a house next door.

The family members who managed to escape the first home told first responders that one of their relatives who lived there was unaccounted for. Firefighters fought to find and rescue the unidentified woman but were unable to save her.

Four of the woman’s relatives — a 57-year-old man, a 26-year-old man, a 31-year-old woman, and a 1-month-old baby — were treated at the scene before being taken to Cooper University Hospital, police said. The 57-year-old man was later airlifted to Crozer-Chester Medical Center.

All three residents of the second home were able to escape safely, police said.

Multiple fire departments responded to the fire. The fire was put under control around 6:30 a.m. The roof of the house and much of the structure collapsed in on itself.

Tom Dougherty, who lives two doors down from the house that caught fire, said it seemed the whole street was on fire when he rushed out of his home.

“My wife woke me up and said the house is on fire next door,” said Dougherty, who’s lived on Tatum Street for 25 years. “Everything was lit up on fire. The whole street was on fire. It seemed like it was everywhere.”

The fire is under investigation by the Gloucester County Fire Marshal’s Office. No cause or origin point had been released as of late Thursday morning.