A fire that blazed a row house on Monday night in Central Pennsylvania killed five people, among them four children and a woman, prior to spreading to other houses.

The flames had razed two brick houses within Harrisburg uptown area before the fire crew fighters arrived a couple of minutes after being alerted by an alarm that went off between 7-7:30 p.m., as Robert Talloni, the Area Fire Chief reported.

He said that the blaze could be seen for miles. The Battalion Chief told the media that by the time the crew arrived, there were shouts from the people there were kids inside the burning house.

A spokesperson for the area’s Mayor Office confirmed that a woman deemed to be 48 years old, together with four children of between 2 and 4 did not survive the blaze.

The Spokesman also said that amidst the fire fighters availing themselves in less than three minute, they were not able to pull anybody from the inferno. The victim’s names are yet to be released.
A fire official on the same confirmed that the home did have smoke detectors although not functioning. About four of the homes looked uninhabitable.

On the scene were a mixture of authorities, right from the state police, county and city investigators and federal Bureau investigators concerned with Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigation. They were trying to find out the blaze’s cause.

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