Vigil held to honor mother, young daughter tragically killed in Philadelphia fire

PHILADELPHIA - On the 900 block of Granite Street sits a boarded-up row home, now a constant reminder to the Summerdale neighborhood of the recent deadly blaze.

"I kicked the door down and just woosh, like the devil was in there," says Richard Castro.

Castro was one of the first to respond to the fire that officials say happened Saturday just after 7:30 a.m.

"The fire came out towards me and the guy behind me got scared. I said help me get them out, and he was scared, so, I went in, I grabbed the father, I went on the ground, crawled, and I got the little boy," says Castro.

The father and son are now in the hospital with critical burns, but what continues to bother Castro is the two people he couldn’t save, an eight-year-old girl and her 31-year-old mother who were pronounced dead.

"I can’t sleep, it makes me cry, because I knew the kid," says Castro. 

Those tears are shared by many in the neighborhood and beyond who came together on Sunday to say thank you to Mr. Castro, and offer prayers to the victims' family. 

"This is where we carry each other's burden, that’s what the church is all about. There’ll be good times, there will be bad times, and we have to show up in bad times," says Israel Dafils, a concerned citizen. 

Meanwhile, the community is wrapping their arms and supporting one of the daughters of the victims, who wasn’t home when the fire occurred.

"A sister is here today, and she’s intensely grieving because while she was away she learns that her family is now in suffering and two of them are dead. There’s no worse feeling than that," says Councilman Anthony Phillips of the 9th District. 

Right now, neighbors are planning on collecting donations for the family as city and state leaders say they are working to provide any resources that the family needs.