On the morning of January 5, 2022, a fire tore through a

row house In architecture and city planning, a terrace or terraced house (British English, UK) or townhouse (American English, US) is a form of medium-density housing that originated in Europe in the 16th century, whereby a row of attached dwellings party ...

converted into apartments in the Fairmount neighborhood of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, Pennsylvania. Twelve people died, nine of them children, and two others were injured. Five additional people escaped from the first floor unit with minor injuries. The fire happened just four days before the

2022 Bronx apartment fire On the morning of January 9, 2022, a high-rise fire killed seventeen people, including eight children, at the Twin Parks North West, Site 4, high-rise apartment building in the Bronx, New York City, United States. Forty-four people were injured ...

, also in the

Northeastern United States The Northeastern United States, also referred to as the Northeast, the East Coast, or the American Northeast, is a geographic region of the United States. It is located on the Atlantic coast of North America, with Canada to its north, the Southe ...

Building

The building was a three-story

rowhouse In architecture and city planning, a terrace or terraced house ( UK) or townhouse ( US) is a form of medium-density housing that originated in Europe in the 16th century, whereby a row of attached dwellings share side walls. In the United State ...

that had been split into two apartments and operated by the

Philadelphia Housing Authority The Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA) is a municipal authority providing Public housing services in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is the fourth-largest housing authority in the United States and is the largest landlord in Pennsylvania. PHA ho ...

. It had one fire extinguisher in a shared entryway on the first floor; however as neither the city's building codes nor PHA policy require additional measures for rental units that size, there were initially no other safety measures. The building had no additional fire extinguishers, sprinklers, fire escapes, or tamper proof smoke detectors provided in the rentals. PHA had installed four smoke detectors in each rental unit of the duplex in 2019 and an additional two in 2020. The units were inspected by the PHA separately in April and May 2021 and both were found to have working smoke detectors at that time. There were at least twenty-six people living in the duplex with eighteen living in the front section of the second floor and the entire third floor. Eight others lived in the first floor and rear half of the second floor.

Fire

The fire began around 6:30 am EST on the second floor of the duplex, and neighbors claimed to hear screams around 6:30 am. Fire fighters found a heavy fire coming from the kitchen area and heading up the staircase to the third floor. Firefighters and investigators believe that the fire began at a Christmas tree in the southwest corner of the second floor unit, near the open stairwell to the third story. Fire Commissioner Adam Thiel said that of the six smoke alarms that were in the unit when the fire started, none were operational when the fire happened. Five had had their batteries removed, and one had been destroyed. There was one working alarm in the basement. Of the fourteen people occupying the unit at the time only two were rescued. A 5-year-old child was found on the second floor and an adult was able to escape out a window, with both classified as critically injured and hospitalized. The child later told investigators at the hospital, that he had been playing with an orange cigarette lighter and accidentally set the tree on fire. A lighter was found near the tree after the fire had been extinguished and no other potential ignition sources was found during the preliminary investigation.

Victims

Of the occupants of the second and third floor rental, twelve people were killed; three adults and nine children. All of the deceased were members of the same family and all lived in the same unit. A relative told reporters that in the fire she had lost her three daughters aged between 33 and 18-years-old and nine grandchildren aged 16 to 4-years-old. City officials did not announce any of the victims' ages or names initially, but later confirmed the adults and children's ages and identities. The Philadelphia Department of Public Health’s Medical Examiner’s Office identified the victims as Rosalee McDonald (age 33), Virginia Thomas (age 30), Quinsha White (age 18), Quientien Tate-McDonald (age 16), Destiny McDonald (age 15) Shaniece Wayne (age 10), Dekwan Robinson (age 8), Natasha Wayne (age 7) J’Kwan Robinson (age 5), Janiyah Roberts (age 4), Taniesha Robinson (age 3) and Tiffany Robinson (age 2).

Investigation

The

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE), commonly referred to as the ATF, is a domestic law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice. Its responsibilities include the investigation and prevent ...

announced on January 6, that they were mobilizing their National Response Team to help with the investigation due to the magnitude of the fire to help the city's

fire marshal A fire marshal, in the United States and Canada, is often a member of a state, provincial or territorial government, but may be part of a building department or a separate department altogether. Fire marshals' duties vary but usually in ...

and

police department The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and ...

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...

reported that a 5-year-old boy who escaped the fire stated to investigators that the blaze started after he accidentally lit a Christmas tree on fire while playing with a lighter. The Philadelphia

Fire Commissioner A fire chief or fire commissioner is a top executive rank or commanding officer in a fire department. Nomenclature Various official English-language titles for a fire chief include ''fire chief'', ''chief fire officer'' and ''fire commissioner' ...

Adam Thiel told reporters on January 11, that the commission believed with a "99 to 100% confidence" that the fire was caused by a Christmas tree in the second floor unit, but could not definitively say who started the fire.

Reactions

PHA President and CEO Kelvin Jeremiah spoke out in support of the family who lived in the second and third floor unit and called for others to suspend their judgement of the family and other PHA tenants. Jeremiah highlighted that it was not PHA policy to evict families that grew in size and the lease had been updated to show the increase in family members over the years. He also took the time to highlight the need for funding to increase additional fire safety improvements in the older PHA homes and the improvements seen in newer buildings. News reports on the fire brought up the subject of overcrowded housing. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' wrote, "Firefighters found that 18 people had been inside the four-bedroom public housing unit, triple the number of people who had moved in a decade earlier... the family had wanted to move to a larger home for years... But with 40,000 households already on the waiting list for public housing in Philadelphia, they had little choice." Fire officials said the building was overcrowded, with 26 people inside a structure that was meant to accommodate two families.Eight children, four adults killed in early-morning Philadelphia apartment fire
Reuters, January 5, 2022 Philadelphia law did not limit the number of people who can occupy a home, after a judge determined such limitations violated residents’ rights.Fairmount rowhouse fire that killed 12 began when a Christmas tree ignited
WHYY, January 11, 2022

References