Husband, Wife Found Dead, 2 Others Injured Following Overnight Fire In Northeast Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - A husband and wife were found dead and two other people were injured after a fire tore through a home in Northeast Philadelphia overnight. Firefighters were called to the home on Modena Drive, near Amity Road, around midnight Tuesday.
When crews arrived, they found heavy smoke and flames coming from the two-story house. Firefighters tried to knock the flames out from inside the home and that's when they made the tragic discovery. A man and woman were found dead on the first floor.
"This was an all-hands fire. So it basically took about, you know, 20 firefighters, well, 20 apparatus vehicles, around 57 to 60 firefighters, medics, support personnel. All of our partners are here, everything from L & I, Salvation Army, Red Cross, of course, PPD. Very tragic night for us," Philadelphia Fire Commissioner Adam Thiel said.
Neighbors say the people who died were husband and wife. They say the couple was elderly and bedridden. An officer tells Eyewitness News, at least one every them had an oxygen tank.
Army veteran Alex Polyakov was among the residents trying to assist.
"In the Army I learned, you don't leave people behind and I left with that," Polyakov said.
According to neighbors, the two people injured are the couple's daughter and son-in-law. They were taken to the hospital in stable condition.
"I can't believe it," one neighbor said. "Upsetting we lost our neighbors today."
It appears the fire started on the first floor of the home.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
CBS3's Crystal Cranmore contributed to this report.
