3 deadly fires kill 6 in Philly region
Three deadly fires in the Philadelphia region killed six people, one of them a child, from Friday night into Saturday morning, authorities said.
Three deadly fires in the Philadelphia region killed six people, one of them a child, from Friday night into Saturday morning, authorities said.
The child died after a blaze ripped through a three-story rowhouse on DeKalb Street near Oak Street in Norristown around 4 a.m. Saturday.
Norristown Fire Chief Tom O'Donnell said two adults died at the scene; the child died later at Einstein Montgomery Medical Center.
Another child was taken to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia in critical condition. Five adults went to other hospitals.
O'Donnell said firefighters confronted "heavy fire" on the first floor of the rowhouse. The blaze was under control by 5:20 a.m.
Two fires in Philadelphia also were deadly.
A blaze in a South Philadelphia rowhouse late Friday killed a man in his 70s and a woman in her 60s, authorities said.
The fire on the 1700 block of Moore Street was reported around 11:25 p.m. and was under control in about 20 minutes, a fire dispatcher said Saturday.
The two victims were found dead on the third floor.
"This family had six smoke alarms, but they were older smoke alarms and the batteries didn't work," Fire Commissioner Derrick Sawyer told 6ABC. "Not one of those six smoke alarms had a working battery."
Around 7:35 a.m. Saturday, fire ripped through a West Philadelphia apartment building on the 4700 block of Hazel Street. Sawyer said a man died trying to extinguish that blaze.
A dispatcher said two people were sent to a hospital or hospitals for treatment. The fire was under control in about a half-hour.
The causes of all three blazes were under investigation.
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This article contains information from the Associated Press.
