\Alex Rose
Daily Times, Primos, Pa.
(TNS)
Apr. 4—UPPER DARBY — Two twin 5-year-old children were killed in a predawn house fire Tuesday in the 300 block of Margate Road.
Crews were dispatched shortly after 4 a.m. when multiple 911 calls came in from neighbors for a building fire with entrapment. Crews were told en route that children were trapped inside a room on the second floor.
Upper Darby Fire Chief Derrick Sawyer said the two-alarm fire was first called in at 4:03 a.m.
No cause had been determined by early afternoon, but he said the fire appeared to have started on the first floor and the victims were trapped in a middle second-story bedroom of the row home as the fire burned extremely hot and fast up the stairs.
Emergency radio traffic showed police raced to the scene and began evacuating houses on both sides of the fire building, requesting one stretcher during those operations. A connected house appeared to have also suffered some fire damage.
Firefighters arriving on scene confirmed heavy fire and smoke from the first floor from a middle-of-the-row two-story home. A second alarm was soon struck. The bulk of the flames were declared "knocked down" within 10 minutes, according to radio traffic.
Police found the mother, who had jumped out of a window to escape the flames, and she told them there were two children still inside, according to radio traffic.
Sawyer said the mother was undergoing surgery at Lankenau Hospital on Tuesday afternoon and fire investigators had not yet been able to interview her, but it was his understanding that she was in the same room with the children and had urged them to jump out of the window as well.
Two firefighters were taken to Crozer-Chester Medical Center with second-degree burns they received while trying to rescue the children.
The fire was declared under control at 4:27 a.m. Streets in the vicinity were blocked off during the firefighting and remain blocked off the rest of the morning.
Upper Darby police officers were on scene Tuesday morning, but Sawyer said there was nothing suspicious about the fire at this point.
Police Superintendent Timothy Bernhardt said the same and that officers always respond to fatal fires and assist the fire department.
Sawyer said there were several important takeaways from this tragedy, first and foremost to have working smoke detectors in the home and an escape plan.
He also urged residents to close their bedroom doors at night when going to sleep, which he said can buy a few crucial minutes in an emergency situation to safely exit the home.
"I believe that if they did close the door to the bedroom, these two children may still be alive," he said.
Residents' accounts
Some neighbors on the block said they were awakened by the fire and saw first responders in action. All were holding the mother in their thoughts.
"This morning we woke up to the sound of the firetruck and it is sad to see this," said Abdelmaeidd Mohammed, who lives directly across the street from the home. "We saw two (firefighters) try to do something. They are very brave. I saw two of them jump inside the house, trying to do something."
Mohammed said his own 8-year-old daughter played with the victims and was over there as recently as Saturday. He said she was still sleeping Tuesday morning and he did not know how to tell her about the tragedy.
"I'm so sorry for her loss," said Ullah Lasima, who owns several properties on the block and came out to check on her tenants. "She lost two babies. ... I'm praying for her, I'm praying for everyone, because it's Ramadan. Every day we pray for peace to make sure she's OK."
Winifred Goodlin, another neighbor from across the street, said she was awakened by her sister about 4 a.m. and came outside.
"Then both of us rushed out and there was a huge fire across the street from us," she said. "I didn't see they were getting out, but I heard she jumped through the window and there were two kids (killed) and since then we've been sitting outside."
Goodlin said she did not know the family, but she had seen them outside before.
"I don't want to think about it, because it hurts," she said. "It hurts a whole lot."
"It's just horrible," said Carmilla Feris, who recently moved away but had returned to check on her old neighbors. "It just makes me sad. I don't know what happened or how it occurred, but for a mother to lose her children — I have children and grandchildren, so I know you can't get over that. This is something she's not going to be able to get over."
Her daughter, Candis, praised the firefighters who attempted to save the children.
"(It's) a tragedy, a loss that no one will be able to come back from," said Candis Ferris. "It's sad when anybody loses a life, but specifically more a child because they're innocent kids. ... I just feel so sorry for the mom. I can't imagine the pain that she's going through."
"I woke up to the terrible news of this deadly fire in Upper Darby," said state Rep. Gina Curry, D-164 of Upper Darby, in a new release. "My heart aches for the family that lost two children as a result of this tragedy. I am praying for the mother who is suffering from her physical and emotional injuries. I also extend my thanks to the firefighters who responded to the blaze and pray for a quick recovery of the two firefighters who were injured."
___
(c)2023 Daily Times, Primos, Pa.
Visit Daily Times, Primos, Pa. at https://www.delcotimes.com/
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
