N. Phila. man dies in rowhouse fire

A Cuban-born man who enjoyed strawberry ice cream, hoagies, Spanish rice and lending a helping hand died yesterday trying to escape his burning North Philadelphia home.

The fire began at 4:24 a.m., forcing residents out of the blazing three-story rowhouse on Lehigh Avenue near 26th Street. Neighbors said the 60-year-old man fell from a ladder hanging from a third-floor window.

Suffering from second- and third-degree burns and multiple fractures, he was taken to Temple University Hospital, where he died at 8:01 a.m.

Although a neighbor gave the man's name to a reporter, his identity was not officially released pending notification of relatives.

A firefighter was treated at Temple University Hospital for minor injuries and released, authorities said.

The fire was brought under control within 24 minutes, officials said. The cause remained under investigation last night.

Four residents of the house escaped injury, including Gilbert Mabry, 34, who said he was sleeping on the second floor with his 7-year-old son when the blaze broke out.

Mabry said that it was his son's first visit to the house, and that he dropped him into the arms of another boy who stood at the rear of the house.

The man who died "was a beautiful person," said a woman who lives across the street, who identified herself only as Jackie. "He was very kind and very giving. He brightened up your day."

Jackie, 27, said through tears that she and another friend had watched movies in the house with the man, adding that he learned English from closed-caption programs on TV.

She said that after he moved in nearly a year ago, he would help her get around and carried her groceries upstairs after she tore a ligament in her leg. He also drove her to the pharmacy, she said.

She said he even helped strangers, including a woman who had been in a fight with a boyfriend, feeding her and giving her $10.

She said the man enjoyed walking and sightseeing. She took him to a pizza shop where he tasted pizza for the first time, enjoying it "like it was the best thing on earth."

"I didn't know it was him," said Oscar Jaquez, 30, a grocer from whom the man bought hoagies and strawberry ice cream. "When I found out, it hit me hard."

Jaquez said the man used to bring him souvenirs and food from New York, where he frequently visited relatives.

Jackie said he also often visited a daughter in Lancaster.

Jackie said she now has to break the bad news to her own daughter, who she said adored him. "She was attached to him," Jackie said. "If you would have met him, you would be too."