The blaze erupted at 1:20am, and by the time firefighters arrived minutes later, 4814 North Palethorpe was engulfed in flames.
Rashida Wilson's body was found in the front bedroom, and her children, Jamar, age 14, and the two girls, 12 year old Minyan and 8 year old Shanai were found in other rooms.
The fire seriously damaged the houses on either side, leaving the families homeless. The cause of the fire has yet to be determined.
Teachers and classmates worry that there are other tragedies waiting to happen, which inspired them to take action.
Teary-eyed classmates of 14 year old Jamar, an 8th grader at Feltonville Arts and Sciences stood before a makeshift memorial of candles and teddy bears Thursday night to pay their respects.
"He used to always make a lot of funny jokes and stuff," said Angie DeSantis. "He used to be like the clown of the class."
"It's a shame. Why him? It's just a shame," said Carina Chazin.
Jamar, along with his sisters, 12 year old Minyan, 8 year old Shanai, and their mother, a day care worker were killed in the early morning blaze as helpless neighbors, who heard their screams for help, watched in horror.
"They were screaming 'Help, help!' but nobody could do nothing," said neighbor Ruben Diaz.
Classmates were particularly fond of Jamar.
"He was so little, and if anybody tried to mess with anybody, he was so little and he would always stick up for them no matter what size," said DeSantis.
Officials say, there were no working smoke alarms in the two-story row home.
In the wake of the tragedy, a Grief stricken and former teacher of Jamar's at Feltonville Intermediate did an informal poll to learn how many students did not have smoke alarms in their homes. The number at that school alone was staggering.
"The number was easily 150 to 200. And those are children who know what a smoke detector is, let alone whether or not they even have one in their home," said former teacher, Michael Downey.
The teachers decided to do something about it. They created a Facebook page titled "Smoke Detector Drive for Feltonville Families" aimed at collecting smoke detectors and/or donations to buy them.
"Teachers go into teaching because they genuinely love children. And this is kind of the way for our school and our community to give them a hug, tell them we love them," said Downey.
January is '6abc Operation Save a life' month, a joint effort by this Television Station and area Fire departments to provide important fire safety and prevention information.
Rasheedah Butts-Wilson, a Block Captain and her children were highly regarded. The community plans a memorial vigil for them here Friday night at 6pm.
