A house fire in a Kensington neighborhood burned for only 15 minutes Thursday morning, but during that time, it devastated the family.
Video: No Smoke Detectors Found
Slideshow:
The fire broke out in a row house on the 2600 block of Jasper Street overnight and within a matter of minutes, it claimed the lives of three members of a family and injured two more members of the family.
Loved ones identified the dead as San Hoong, 41, Hiep Le, 14, and Carmen Le, 5. Cahn Van Le, 43, and Vivian Le, 11 months old, are in critical condition at Temple Hospital.
Fire investigators said that they didn't find any smoke detectors inside the home.
"I just saw a bunch of smoke and just people crying and screaming and everybody's calling for help," said Maria Santana.
"They're very bad. The father's got a broken head and his whole body's burned," said Quang Nguyen, a relative of the victims.
Based on a preliminary investigation, officials believe the fire originated on the first floor. Fire officials said the family did not have gas, so they were using portable heaters for heat, and that could have contributed to the blaze.
"We tell our folks that you can't use a portable heating source as your main heating source," said Philadelphia Fire Commissioner Lloyd Ayers.
Thursday afternoon, Philadelphia firefighters passed out fire detectors to homes in the area, as they always do after a fatal fire.
Fire officials said grates on the downstairs windows made escape difficult for the family.
"We feel bad. It is a terrible situation, catastrophic, and we are grieving in the fire department. We don't want to see these fires. It's devastating," Ayers said.
Copyright 2006 by NBC10.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
