Baby Pulled From Delco House Fire Dies

CLIFTON HEIGHTS, Pa. - A 16-month-old baby pulled by firefighters from a Delaware County house fire has died, officials said later Friday morning.

The flames broke out in Clifton Heights early Friday morning.

Fox 29's Julie Kim said the neighborhood is looking for answers and coping by lending whatever help it can to the fire victims.

A family of five lived in the home on the 100 block of West Berkley Avenue. The mother was apparently out working when the blaze was reported around 3:25 a.m.

The father and two older children got out safely, but the baby in the crib on the second floor didn't have a chance, according to fire officials.

There was a heavy feeling on the street directed at the family that lived in the home.

"He had his two older kids out here and he was pretty much in the hysterics because the baby was still in the house," neighbor Jim Lassiter said.

"There was black smoke coming out of the bedroom window. It was just pouring out of there and you could actually see the flames up the back of the house, just shooting up in the sky," neighbor Frank Cassidy said. "I heard him screaming, 'The baby's still in the house.'"

Jim Lassiter and other neighbors tried to go in through the front door.

"I went to take a step in and it was just, it would choke you right away," he said.

When that failed, they tried to use a ladder to reach the baby's second-floor room.

"The smoke was overwhelming," Lassiter said.

Firefighters arrived and got to the 16-month old baby within minutes of arriving, but it was too late. The child was later pronounced dead at Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital.

It seems everyone is feeling this loss, from the neighbors to the firefighters.

"We have a lot of young firefighters. This is the first time they’ve seen a fatality. I've got a lot of firefighters in their 20s and 30s who have small children," said Chief Jim Kneass, of the Clifton Heights Fire Co.

Some firefighters sought crisis counseling after having to take the lifeless child from the home.

At the Chickie's corner store about a half a block away from the home, donation jars and boxes had been put out. They're collecting clothing or whatever else anyone might have to give. The store's owner was out collecting monetary donations in the street. Family members used to frequent the business, Kim reported.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.