- A fire killed one person and injured two others early Sunday morning in the 900 block of North Penn Street
- Milagros Fonseca, 28, died at the hospital after she was found unresponsive in her home, authorities said
- Four homes were deemed uninhabitable after the fire, which damaged at least 12 buildings
ALLENTOWN, Pa — A day after flames ripped through much of an Allentown city block Sunday morning, killing one person and hospitalizing two others, at least a dozen people are without a home, authorities said Monday.
The fire broke out about 5:45 a.m. Sunday in the middle of the 900 block of North Penn Street, where some said they were awakened by screaming.
“All we heard was somebody early in the morning, hollering, ‘Get out! Get out!’” Orlando Diaz told LehighValleyNews.com on Monday. “We smelled smoke upstairs, and that’s it. You just [go].”
Diaz said he escaped his home at 913 N. Penn St. with his wife and son, and they immediately started trying to douse flames at their neighbor’s house.
“We tried to squirt some water and get the people that was stuck in there,” Diaz said, pointing to a garden hose. But “we couldn’t. Once it blew the window, that’s it.”
Five people were inside that home — at 915 N. Penn St. — when the fire broke out there early Sunday, Allentown Fire Captain John Christopher said.
“All we heard was somebody early in the morning, hollering, ‘Get out! Get out!’ We smelled smoke upstairs, and that’s it. You just (go).”Orlando Diaz, homeowner
A woman died after she was found unresponsive in the home, while two other people were being treated at the hospital for burns, Christopher said.
The Lehigh County Coroner’s Office on Monday identified the victim as 28-year-old Milagros Fonseca.
The Lehigh County Coroner's office said an autopsy is scheduled Tuesday to determine the cause of death.
A 26-year-old woman and her 5-year-old son also were inside 913 N. Penn St. when the fire started; they were taken to the hospital but released soon after, Christopher said.
The American Red Cross Greater Pennsylvania Region said it’s helping 17 people affected by Sunday’s fire in Allentown.
In addition to the coroner’s office, Allentown Fire Department, Allentown Fire Marshal, Pa. State Police, and Allentown Police Department continued to investigate Monday.
Personnel from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms also were on the scene Sunday.
‘Doesn’t take long at all’
Some residents were out Monday afternoon assessing the damage to their homes alongside restoration crews and insurance agents.
Four homes were deemed uninhabitable by fire officials, forcing at least a dozen residents to find other places to stay.
“Under normal circumstances, fire doubles in volume every 30 seconds. ... There’s no time when a fire is growing at that rate.”Allentown Fire Captain John Christopher
Three homes were damaged by the fire, while a fourth was closed off after water from the firefighters’ hoses filled its basement and caused electrical issues, Christopher said.
Diaz said his family is staying in a hotel after his home in the center of the block sustained heavy smoke damage. He said he’s lived in the home for almost 30 years and plans to rebuild.
“I feel lucky, but still sad … that somebody lost their life,” he said, calling on people to “keep praying” for Fonseca’s family.
The fire damaged 12 rowhomes, but it could have been worse, as it “was actively spreading when we showed up,” Christopher said.
“Under normal circumstances, fire doubles in volume every 30 seconds,” he said. “There’s no time when a fire is growing at that rate.”
Allentown has many row houses that were built decades ago, before the implementation of “firebreaks in the walls” between structures, he said.
“It doesn’t take long at all in some of these older homes for [flames] to go from one house to the next,” he said.
“It’s really that simple.”
‘Milli was our rock’
Milagos Fonseca was a funny and “amazing cousin, sister, daughter, friend, cook, artist and most important … Titi,” her cousin, Omayra Santigao, wrote on a GoFundMe page.
“Milli was our rock,” Santiago wrote, adding she “had such a beautiful unique connection” with her relatives.
She had a passion for art since she was a young girl, and “her comedy was infectious,” Santiago wrote.
“You literally could not have a conversation without her making a joke, and the swiftness of her delivery would make it that much more hilarious, never skipping a beat,” she wrote.
Fonseca’s family is “devastated by Milagros’ loss” and needs help covering “the high cost of a funeral service,” Santiago wrote.
