House Fire Claims A Life In Southwest Philadelphia
By Jenn Bernstein, Al Novack
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A fire late last Sunday night claimed the life of a man, and sent two others to the hospital.
Fire Commissioner Lloyd Ayers said firefighters were met with heavy fire and smoke when they raced to a home on South 46th Street at about 11:30 p.m. Sunday night.
Three men were inside when flames began to engulf the building.
Fire officials say two were able to escape; one made it to the second floor roof, while the other had to make a daring decision.
"The next door neighbor actually had a deck, the person was able to jump to save themselves," said Commissioner Ayers.
Firefighters were able to reach and rescue the man from there.
The third man inside wasn't able to escape. Firefighters found him dead in a second floor bedroom.
Ayers believes the home may have been a sort of boarding house, that holds five units.
So far, Commissioner Ayers said they found the home was in bad condition.
"The electrical panel is awful. The utilities in the place is un-serviceable. We see no smoke alarms, but we see oil heaters, electric heaters, things like that," said Commissioner Ayers.
The Fire Marshal is investigating the cause.
This is the eighth fire death so far this year.
