Mar 10, 2008 9:00 pm US/Eastern
4 Children Killed In Bethlehem Row Home Fire
BETHLEHEM (AP) ―
A row house fire killed four children and destroyed three homes near the former Bethlehem Steel plant early Sunday, fire officials said.
The victims included two boys, ages 11 and 13, and two girls, ages 5 and 7, Northampton County Coroner Zachary Lysek told The Associated Press on Sunday night.
Lysek did not release the names of the victims.
"Due to the magnitude of the fire, it is going to take some time to complete forensic identification," Lysek said.
High winds, the collapse of the building's rubber roof and the intensity of the flames complicated efforts to rescue residents and control the blaze, authorities said.
One resident who jumped from a second-story window was hospitalized with extensive burns while three firefighters and a paramedic were treated for minor injuries.
"The intensity of the fire ... was too much for them to advance too far," said Lt. Joe Chernaskey of the Bethlehem Fire Department, adding that the roof collapse further hindered efforts.
"When that starts to burn, you've got a whole other situation. It's a very hard thing to fight," he said.
The 4:30 a.m. fire destroyed all three homes in the building but appeared concentrated in the middle residence. Each home was occupied, but officials did not immediately know how many people were inside or how many escaped.
A woman and five children lived in the middle, red brick row house, neighbors said.
Hector Lugo, 27, who lives three doors away, was awakened by the sound of the woman screaming "Help! Help! My kids are inside."
He saw a teenage boy on fire jump from a second-floor window and watched as firefighters doused the flames from him, he said.
When firefighters opened the front door, flames exploded outward, forcing people to run for cover, Lugo said.
The homes, in a working-class neighborhood in South Bethlehem, are within sight of the former Bethlehem Steel blast furnaces, where an $800 million casino complex is being built.
Rafael Medina, 64, who lives next-door to the charred building, said the woman knocked on his door screaming for help. He tried to get inside, but the heavy smoke blocked his way.
Medina frequently saw children from the family outside playing.
"They're nice kids," he said.
Myriam Rivera, who baby-sat two of the young children in the house, said one of the girls was turning 8 years old on Monday. To celebrate, the girl's mother planned to take the whole family to Chuck E. Cheese, said Rivera, choking back tears.
Rivera said she visited the mother at Lehigh Valley Hospital, where she said the teenage boy who jumped from a second-story window was being treated for burns.
Another neighbor, Aracelis Rodriguez, said it was tough explaining the fire to her 8-year-old daughter, who played with the children in the burned house. "She started crying and asked why it happened," Rodriguez said.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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