After 2 deadly Philadelphia fires, officials urge readiness
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- City leaders are making sure residents are prepared after two fires over the last two weeks claimed the lives of six people.
In North Philadelphia, teams were passing out smoke detectors to anyone who needed them on Tuesday.
At the Philadelphia Fire Department headquarters, Mayor Jim Kenney spoke about the fatal blazes in which two children were among the victims.
"It's been an absolutely tragic couple of weeks. We've lost Philadelphians, two of them young children, to fatal fires," Kenney said.
While investigations continue into both fires, officials say a lack of smoke detectors played a role at the triple fatal fire in Wynnefield two Sundays ago.
Police say 84-year-old Clifton Hickman, 66-year-old Shirley Hickman, and 29-year-old Tyreke Johnson were killed.
Officials stressed the need for a 10-year lithium battery smoke detector on every floor.
"If you can't afford a smoke alarm, you can call 311. You need one, we'll be out. The Red Cross will be out," Philadelphia Fire Commissioner Adam Thiel said.
When confronted by fire, you're also asked to make a less than 2-minute plan out of the house.
"You need to know how to get out of your house in that precious two minutes. You need a customized fire escape plan," Judge Renee Huges of the American Red Cross said.
A North Philadelphia fire this past Sunday killed 52-year-old Monique Guillory and her two grandchildren, 9-year-old Prudence and her 7-year-old brother Dean Figueroa.
At the scene, a relative hinted the fire may have been purposefully started.
Fire Commissioner Thiel is still in the early stages of the investigation and could not confirm that.
One of the mottos of the fire department is "fire is everyone's fight."
They urge all to get a smoke detector and make up a plan to get out safely.
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