Tragedy: House fire in Southwest Philadelphia claims three lives

By Angela Leone

Mar 30

house fire lawyer, lawyer for fire death, fire attorneys, lawyer philadelphia

Tragedy struck in Southwest Philly last Friday after a fire broke out in a Bonnaffon Street row home, claiming the lives of a 40-year-old woman and her 4-year-old and 1-year-old grandsons.

Firefighters arrived at the 2000 block of Bonnaffon Street just after 6:30pm on Friday, March 27th to heavy flames emerging from second story windows. They were able to get into the home and pull the three victims from a bedroom. The woman was pronounced dead on the scene. The boys were transported to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where the 4-year-old died at 7:11, and the younger child died eight minutes later.

A neighbor, Sirweah Quioh, saw the flames and rushed over to the house to help get the residents out.

“Only response she gave me was, ‘I’m coming out, I’m gonna get the kids. I’m coming out’, and that was the only thing she said,” Quioh said. “Nobody came out.”

The boys’father was at the corner store when the flames emerged and returned, helpless, to the raging fire.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Messa & Associates Experienced in Fire Cases

The Philadelphia personal injury attorneys at Messa & Associates have years of experience successfully litigating cases involving fires and explosions. These cases require significant investigation as early possible in order to preserve evidence, determine cause and origin of the fire or explosion, and the responsibility of potential Defendants.

Fire and explosion cases often involve products liability claims for failures of electrical systems, appliances, smoke detectors, smoke alarms, sprinkler systems, and other fire protection and suppression equipment. The firm has handled many fire and explosion cases over the years involving significant injuries and death. Some examples of the successful results obtained by our skilled attorneys:

  • Confidential eight-figure settlement against a leading smoke detector manufacturer and major mobile home company where a family of seven perished in a fire. The victims, including five children ages four to eleven, suffered severe burns and smoke inhalation causing their deaths. The victims’ mobile home came equipped with smoke detectors with ionization technology which failed to provide a timely warning of, what the Pennsylvania State Police investigators determined, was a slow and smoldering fire.
  • $8 Million settlement for the family of a seven-year-old girl who was killed in a fire caused by a defective curling iron that lacked proper safety precautions to prevent a fire from occurring. The curling iron was plugged into a defective power strip that lacked an industry standard fuse that would have disabled the power running to the curling iron in the event of a short.
  • $5.25 Million settlement against a popular manufacturer and retailer of smoke detectors on behalf of the family of a grandmother and her toddler granddaughter who perished in a fire after four ionization smoke detectors failed to detect a growing fire in their two-story home.
  • $3.7 Million recovery for death of a nine-year-old boy as a result of a fire in an apartment building.
  • $2.9 Million settlement for a burn injury action involving a 3-year-old girl who was burned by an defective electric potpourri pot. The child suffered partial thickness burns on her right arm, right breast and shoulder. The Defendants were aware that the pot was defective and had injured other young children, but continued to market and sell it. The potpourri pots were sold without adequate warnings about the dangers and/or hazards posed by using it on a daily basis.
  • $2.225 Million settlement for 11-year old burn victim.
  • and many more.

New Jersey and Philadelphia Personal Injury laweyrs

The Philadelphia personal injury lawyers at Messa & Associates are experienced at handling personal injury cases involving serious injuries resulting from fires, burns and explosions. Our extremely skilled team of personal injury lawyers and medical experts is dedicated to ensuring you receive proper compensation for your personal injuries. If you or a loved one have been injured in an explosion or fire, or have endured any other type of personal injury, contact the personal injury attorneys of Messa & Associates for a free consultation. Call toll free at 1-877-MessaLaw, or submit a free online inquiry.

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About the Author

Angela serves as the Director of Marketing and Public Relations at Messa & Associates, handling all aspects of marketing, social media, and press relations. aleone@messalaw.com