(CNN) — Both New York City and Philadelphia are mourning terrible building fires in recent days that have left large numbers of people dead, including several children.
The two fires killed 29 people, 26 of them reportedly children.
Added to the tragedy are winter temperatures in the region and the raging COVID-19 pandemic, which is putting health systems to the test almost everywhere.
Fire in Fairmont, Philadelphia area kills 12
Wednesday morning a fire tore through a crowded apartment building in Philadelphia and killed at least 12 people, most of them children.
Among the victims were three sisters and all but one of their 10 children, a family member told CNN.
Rosalee McDonald, 33; Virginia Thomas, 30, and Quinsha White, 18, died, according to their cousins Frank and Pamela McDonald. Six of Rosalee McDonald’s children and three of Thomas’s children also died in the fire. The ages of their children were not given.
“They were both good people, good mothers and very family oriented,” Frank McDonald told CNN. “Rosalee was one of the best people you might ever meet. She was very supportive, they both did. They came to help me with my business when I opened it.”
The building was a three-story house converted into apartments that housed 26 people, according to firefighters.
Bill Richards, who said he has lived on the block for 24 years, told CNN affiliate WPVI that before he learned of the fire, he heard a woman screaming, “Oh my God! Oh my God! “. Then he heard fire trucks and got out.
Neighbors and others, some sobbing, gathered outside as firefighters and police worked on the scene Wednesday morning, WPVI reported.
A veteran firefighter called it one of the worst fires he had ever faced.
“It was terrible,” said Philadelphia Deputy Fire Commissioner Craig Murphy. “I’ve been here for 30 or 35 years and this is probably one of the worst fires I’ve ever been to.”
“This is without a doubt one of the most tragic days in the history of our city – the loss of so many people in such a tragic way,” Mayor Jim Kenney said Wednesday morning. “Losing so many children is just devastating. Keep these babies in your prayers.”
The cause of the fire is under investigation. A possibility that is being studied is whether a child under the age of 5 playing with a lighter under a Christmas tree might have started the fire, according to Jane Roh, a spokeswoman for the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office.
The Bronx fire left 17 victims
In the Bronx, New York, 17 people, including eight children, were killed in a fire that swept through an apartment building Sunday. Initially 19 fatalities were reported, But on Monday authorities corrected the figure to 17.
Of the 63 people injured, 32 were hospitalized with life-threatening conditions, said New York Fire Department Commissioner Daniel Nigro.
The fire started in a malfunctioning space heater in a two-story apartment, according to Nigro. Flames consumed that apartment, Nigro said, and then smoke covered the staircase and people trying to get out.
“The door to that apartment, unfortunately when the residents left, it stayed open, it didn’t close by itself. The smoke spread throughout the building hence the tremendous loss of life and people fighting for their lives right now in hospitals throughout the Bronx, “said Nigro.
There were no fire exits in the building. About 200 firefighters responded to the blaze and some were left without oxygen as they tried to remove residents, Nigro said.
Daisy Mitchell, who lived on the 10th floor, told CNN affiliate WABC that she was very afraid to leave her apartment.
“I heard people banging on doors saying ‘it’s a fire, it’s a fire’ so I didn’t pay attention to it but then when we opened that door the smoke hit us and we ran into the hall to get out and I just panicked , I was scared, even with the mask on, “Mitchell told CNN affiliate WABC.
Mamadou Wague, who lived in the apartment where the fire started, told WABC that he jumped through the flames to save his daughter.
“We were sleeping and then my kids were screaming fire, fire,” Wague said, according to WABC.
“I don’t want to hear anyone killed in this fire, that’s what worries me,” Wague told WABC.
The fire “is going to be one of the worst fires we have witnessed during modern times here in New York City,” said New York Mayor Eric Adams.
“This is a horrible, horrible and painful time for New York City, and the impact of this fire will really bring a level of pain and despair right to our city,” Adams said.
– CNN’s Elizabeth Joseph, Amir Vera, Laura James, Eric Levenson, Alaa Elassar, Laura Studley, Mark Morales, Laura Dolan, Carll Alvarado, Paul P. Murphy, and Taylor Romine contributed to this report.
