PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A Sunday morning fire at a Philadelphia home claimed the lives of three people, including two children.
Fire department crews were called around 4:30 a.m. to the residence where witnesses said they saw flames shooting from a window and heard people screaming.
Fire commissioner Adam Thiel said a child was rescued and taken to Hahnemann University Hospital, where the youngster was pronounced dead. Thiel said the bodies of a woman and another child were later found on the third floor.
Officials didn’t immediately release their names but said the woman was 52 and the children were 9 and 7.
The cause of the fire remained under investigation.
Thiel said it was too early to know if fire detectors were in the home.
“An incredibly tough morning for our firefighters, paramedics and the community in North Philly,” Thiel said in a Twitter message, followed later by “Heartbroken at the tragic outcome; our thoughts/prayers are with the family.”
About 30 vehicles and 100 personnel were called to the scene.
The American Red Cross provided emergency lodging, food and clothing for three adults and counseling for family members of the victims, the organization said in a statement.
A week earlier, three people died and another was injured in another early morning fire in a Philadelphia home.
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