Mother of 2 dies in Olney house fire; 3 others rescued

OLNEY (FOX 29) - A community in Philadelphia's Olney neighborhood is grieving Saturday. Neighbors say a young mother of two lost her life just a day before Mother's Day.

"Not only was she a mother, but she's a daughter, she's a granddaughter, she's a niece. You can never replace that," Henry Hopkins, a neighbor, told FOX 29.

Instead of waking up to prepare for Mother's Day, neighbors on the 5700 block of North 6th Street in Olney woke up to fire trucks and the charred aftermath. And, the news that a young mom on their block didn't make it.

"You could see the fire gushing out," Hopkins added.

Philadelphia fire crews say they got the call to the fire around 7 a.m. Saturday. Neighbors say three people inside the home crawled out to the roof. Fire officials say they rescued the three people, but could not get to a fourth person in the home.

Neighbors say it was the mother of two children, a young woman in her 20's.

"It affects the whole community because when you lose a loved one and then, you know, the loved one that had the loss, it hurts. It hurts," Hopkins explained.

Hopkins, who lives just a few doors down, says he and his wife were in a deep sleep and woke up to the smell of smoke.

"By the time we woke up, the house was full of smoke. So, it's God's grace that got us out. Smoke inhalation could have taken us out," Hopkins stated.

The fire department did not release where the fire started or the potential cause.