Young boy killed in Southwest Philly house fire

A 7-year-old boy died after firefighters rescued him early Thursday from a burning house in Southwest Philadelphia, officials said.

The boy, whose name was not immediately released, was one of five people taken to hospitals from the fire on the 2400 block of Ardell Street in the Eastwick section, officials said.

Firefighters found the boy inside on the second floor and carried him out, officials said. They also rescued a man whom neighbors described as the boy’s grandfather from the porch roof of the rowhouse.

The Fire Department said that the alarm came in about 12:45 a.m., and that 50 firefighters and more than a dozen apparatus responded to the blaze.

Assistant Fire Chief Anthony Sneidar Jr. reported that the fire had been burning for some time in the two-story building before firefighters arrived. They found flames coming through the roof with heavy smoke pouring from the second floor, the Fire Department said.

Besides the boy and his grandfather, medics transported three other people who escaped the blaze on their own to hospitals. Their conditions are not known.

The boy died at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia about 20 minutes after the fire was declared under control at 1:19 a.m., according to authorities.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.