Officials: One Dead In South Philadelphia Fire
By Diana Rocco
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- South Philadelphia community members are remembering a neighbor they lost in a fire that occurred on Thursday.
Choking back tears, a long time friend says 69-year-old Joe DeRosa was your quintessential South Philly neighbor who'd give you the shirt off his back.
"We palled around together. We would go out to lunch, dinner We would go to Pat's Steaks. We'd sit on the bench. He'd smoke a cigarette. I'd make him coffee every morning. He drove me crazy, but now I miss him," said DeRosa's friend Angelo Coletti.
DeRosa was killed Thursday after a fire broke out in his second floor bedroom of the Federal Street home he lived in with his son's family. The fire was contained to the room. Firefighters arrived in minutes and found DeRosa on the floor near a chair after a family member called 911.
"Companies removed the male from the property and transported the same male to Methodist Hospital. He was pronounced at Methodist Hospital after they arrived," said Philadelphia Fire Department Deputy Commissioner Jesse Wilson.
Just a few doors down there is shock and heart break at the social club La Casa Dei Pazzi. The club was started by DeRosa decades ago. His baby picture still hangs on their wall.
"Last night we were all in here eating pizza and sandwiches, laughing," said Coletti. "Everybody's down in the dumps right now because there's 30 guys in this club and we were like a family."
The fire is still under investigation. Officials say that the fire does not appear to be suspicious.
