fairmont fire.
5 y/o lit the xmas tree on fire w/lighter.
not talking about this...
Wow.
I knew about the fire when it happened and at that stage the cause was under investigation. At that point the news story was more about living conditions, fire and building codes with this building. Absolute tragedy. I didn't know until your post that a child started it. 12 people dead. Now that I read the story it sounds like all of the 12 people were all friends, family and extended family including his mother and a couple of his sisters. Can you imagine going through life carrying that. Man.....
All that aside about the boy starting the fire, this was a Philadelphia Housing Authority building and no building in this day and age should be set up with only one exit from a residence unless there is fire suppression in every unit. Knowing it was a Christmas tree and knowing how they go up in a flash its entirely possible that the 12 could have been dead from the smoke and fumes before the fire even really got rolling. The link below is a good video about the building where this happened. Also, if you've never seen video of a Christmas tree fire look it up......then imagine a fire like that going off in a cramped apartment where its likely the tree going up is right beside the only escape.
Firefighters say there were 26 people inside a building in Philadelphia’s Fairmount neighborhood where a fire killed 12 people, including 8 children. NBC10 investigative reporter Claudia Vargas has the city records for the building and investigates why it was so crowded at the time of the fire.
www.nbcphiladelphia.com