7 Killed in Blaze at Boarding House
A fire blamed on faulty wiring raced through an unlicensed, rubbish-filled Philadelphia boarding house that was home to the elderly and disabled, killing seven people.
The five men and two women died of smoke inhalation and an 11-year-old girl identified by neighbors as the adopted daughter of the building’s manager was critically injured.
The three-story building with nearly 30 rooms was in disarray, Fire Commissioner Harold Hairston said. It had several smoke detectors and an alarm system, but they did not appear to work.
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