Boy, 10, dies of injuries in North Philadelphia fire

Ten-year-old Albert Blassengale was known as a smart, thoughtful, and considerate boy by family and neighbors. He was the kind of child who would have serious, "beyond his years" conversations with adults., they said

The fifth grader once told his father to donate his organs should he die, they said.

On Saturday, Albert's family honored his wish.

Albert had been on life support at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia since last Monday, when he suffered smoke inhalation in a fire on the second floor of his family's rowhouse on North 27th Street.

"Maybe another child can survive," Deborah Leatherberry, his stepmother, said of the donation.

On Sunday, Jerry Blassengale, Albert's father, was making funeral arrangements, Leatherberry said. The service is expected to be Friday at Morris Brown A.M.E. Church, she said.

Jerry Blassengale had tried to save his son from the fire but ended up also hospitalized with smoke inhalation. He had just walked a few doors away to a corner store when the blaze erupted at the back of his house. He ran into the house and through the fire to try to save Albert, who was asleep in a front bedroom. Neighbors put up a ladder and broke through a window, releasing thick black smoke from the boy's bedroom.

"It just happened so fast," said Kisha Williams, 19, a relative who was a witness.

Albert was a student at Gideon School, where he got A's and B's. He loved to play chess, football, and wrestling games, and had recently moved from being a Cub Scout to a Boy Scout.

Leatherberry said Albert loved rainbow water ice, snow crab, and doing his homework.

"He was very smart," she said.

Jerry Blassengale, a single father, had taken care of his son since birth, neighbors said. They said he made sure Albert was respectful and studied hard.

On Sunday, a faint odor of smoke from the burned-out home could still be detected when a gust of wind kicked up. Soot covered the outside walls of the boy's bedroom window and a cluster of stuffed animals crowded the front steps.

"Have fun in heaven. I'll miss you very much. Peace out cousin. From Booda," was written on a Shrek doll.

Albert's cat, Daisy, a tortoiseshell, wandered back and forth across the street. Williams said the cat still cries at the door to be let in and misses Albert. She will be taken care of by family.

The Fire Department said there was a working smoke detector in the house that was sounding when firefighters arrived. The department will release the official cause of the blaze on Monday, officials said. Albert was the city's 23d fire death this year, Battalion Chief Anthony Hudgins said.

Albert "would have been 11 on the 16th," Leatherberry said.