One Child Killed in House Fire

A deadly fire in West Philadelphia has claimed one life raising questions about the city's brownout policy.

KYW's Jim Melwert reports a 12-year-old boy was found dead on the second floor of a row home on the 100 block of South 55th Street because of what fire Commissioner Lloyd Ayers calls a fast moving fire:

"They had a heavy fire fight just entering into the dwelling."

Three people were hospitalized -- including two firefighters.

The closest firehouse to this blaze, Engine 57, was closed until about an hour before the call as part of city budget cuts.

But Commissioner Ayers says that didn't have an effect on response time, because Engine 57 was on routine maintenance, making another Engine first-in:

"And Engine 68 was on scene with the battalion chief was only three minutes. They got here in three minutes."

But a union official says they can't be certain if the budgetary brownouts had an effect on response time.

Local 22 trustee Mike Kane says, if the firehouse had been opened during the day the day shift could have been picked up then.  Instead, Engine 68 had to respond, getting on the scene in about 3 minutes:

"Which is great time, but our question is, they're coming from about 10 blocks away, engine 57 is two blocks away. If they would have gotten here within 90 seconds, would they have made a difference?"

Kane says the union wants an impact study to determine if the rolling closures of firehouses are putting lives at risk.

(Photo by KYW's Jim Melwert)