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Investigation into Kensington fatal fire continues, as mother remains hospitalized
The mother who lost her three sons and husband in a rowhome fire remains hospitalized as the investigation into a cause of the fire continues.
KENSINGTON - One Philadelphia community is showing an outpouring of support for the family who lost a father and his three sons in a fire, as the probe raises new questions about the owners of the building.
The memorial for the victims of Sunday’s early morning fire has grown to include balloons bobbing in the wind and dozens of candles. A framed picture of the three Arroyo-Santana brothers and their dad, all killed in the flames, has been placed there.
Members of a local ministry known as The Rock have come to check on folks who live in the neighborhood.
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"The fact that these young ones have died, children that most of them knew, there’s grief involved. Then there’s the damage – smoke throughout the block," Kevin Bernard, with The Rock, explained.
A spokesperson the Philadelphia Fire Department says its investigation into the cause is ongoing while investigators hold firm to the belief the home did not have smoke alarm protection.
"We have found no evidence, so far, of working smoke alarms," Philadelphia Fire Commissioner Adam Thiel said.
Philadelphia’s Department of Licenses and Inspections says the rowhome, owned by Edwin and Gloria Ruiz, did not have a required rental license and the department says it will now send inspectors to a Ruiz-owned property on Widener Street to learn of it’s also an unlicensed rental.
At the fire scene, the flow of mourners and the curious is constant.
The wife of Alexis and mother of 12-year-old Alexangel Arroyo-Santana, nine-year-old Yadriel and five-year-old Yamalier remains in the hospital, recovering from her leap from the second floor to safety.
With 21 fire deaths in the city just this year, firefighters are urging extreme caution.
"Philadelphia has a fire problem and we need your help because fire is everyone’s fight," Thiel commented.
Philadelphia residents in need of a smoke alarm or to have one installed, can find more information from the Philadelphia Fire Department, at their website. A smoke alarm can also be requested from the Red Cross, at their website.