NE Philly house fire kills woman, injures mother
The early-morning blaze damaged a home that only had one smoke detector, that wasnt working.
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AN EARLY-MORNING blaze in Somerton yesterday left one woman dead and another critically injured.
The fire broke out about 7:30 a.m. in a two-story home on Avon Street near Jeanes, Fire Commissioner Derrick Sawyer said.
When firefighters arrived, they found one woman, 76, near the home's front door. She was taken to Aria Health's Torresdale hospital, where she remained last night in critical condition, Sawyer said.
It took about 14 minutes to extinguish the fire, which started in the dining room.
Nearby, in the kitchen, the faucet in the sink was still running - one of the occupants apparently tried to quench the flames.
The injured woman's husband was in the basement when the fire started and was able to escape uninjured through a nearby door.
As fire crews surveyed the damaged home, they found a 45-year-old woman in a bedroom on the second floor. Medics pronounced the woman, the daughter of the other victims, dead at the scene, Sawyer said. The Fire Department did not release the names of the victims last night.
The cause of the deadly inferno was unknown last night, pending the outcome of an investigation by the Fire Marshal's Office.
There was only one smoke detector inside the home, a unit in the basement that wasn't working, Sawyer said.
He added that Fire Department records indicate that smoke detectors were installed in the home in 2001, but it was unclear what had happened to them.