A man and three children died this Sunday in a fire in a house located in the Kensington neighborhood in Philadelphia, according to Derek Bowmer, spokesman for the Fire Department of this city in the state of Pennsylvania.
The fire broke out shortly after 2 a.m. at 3200 Hartville Street.
A 38-year-old woman was able to escape the flames by jumping out a window and was taken to Temple Hospital for treatment of burns.
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The "intense fire coming from both floors" of the building was brought under control within half an hour.
"Our men and women made a valiant effort to try to save people, [but] unfortunately it ended as a tragedy," the spokesman said.
Ángel Rivera, a neighbor interviewed by ABC News, explained his futile efforts to rescue the victims.
“Where is my best friend?
Are you sure he's back there in the house that's on fire?' I asked, but I couldn't get in there,” he explained.
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Rivera said he spoke to the woman who jumped out the window and explained that her body was badly burned.
"[My friend] told him to jump out the window and he would come out with the kids," Rivera said, "those were his last words."
"Life is short, if you have children, hug them, treat them like a treasure because you never know," Rivera concluded.
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Firefighters said the house lacked smoke detectors, and urged people without working smoke detectors to contact authorities to have them installed.
Firefighters and state coroners are still investigating possible causes of the fire.
The identity of the victims has not been released.
With information from
ABC
and
NBC News