Arson Possible Cause Of Fire That Killed 2 Teens - Philadelphia News, Weather and Sports from WTXF FOX 29

Friends fought back tears and hugged each other just a few feet from where they say 15-year-old Kenny Holmes and his teenage friend lost their lives early Friday morning in a quick-moving fire that officials say could be an act of arson.

"It's a hard thing, two people died in there, it's a hard thing," said Lawrence Owens.

"Hard to believe," another neighbor said.

"It's a shame this happened," neighbor Kevin Carey said.

While high school friends remembered their classmate, fire investigators were scouring the scene looking for evidence of an arson. A specially trained dog was brought in to sniff out accelerants on boards taken from the front porch.  It was clear this area was the focus of the fire marshal.

"He was here yesterday," said Carey, "and now today they're gone just like that. It's a tragedy."

Investigators from the Prosecutors Office entered a store a few doors down to review surveillance video from these cameras pointed at the house. A store employee confirmed the detectives left with video files. Neighbors meanwhile were in shock over the loss of two young lives.

"We all know him, you see him run up and down the street playing with other kids and now," Carey added.

"You got a group of kids up there crying cause one of their friends died and somebody else died," said Rev. David King, who runs a church up the block.

Carey has lived on the block for almost 20 years. He knew the teenage victim's family. He can only imagine their pain. He hopes they get justice.

"If it was intentionally set," he said. "I hope whoever did it gets caught and pays the price for it."

The two victims were not officially identified. City officials and the Prosecutor's Office say the official cause of the fire has not yet been determined.

If it turns out to be arson, the two deaths would be ruled homicides. That would make 32 murders in Camden so far this year, compared to 25 at this time last year.