Home Police/Fire/Military Deadly duplex fire takes toll on Pennsylvania community, first responders

Deadly duplex fire takes toll on Pennsylvania community, first responders

It's been an incredibly difficult day for Philadelphia and for firefighters who responded to a deadly duplex fire on Wednesday morning.

"I'm not doing well at all. I mean personally, I have a job to do, this is what we do, but we are human beings just like everybody else," said Captain Derek Bowmer, the executive chief of the Philadelphia Fire Department. Fire officials said eight children are among at least 12 dead after a house fire erupted in the Fairmount section of the city on Wednesday morning, the deadliest fire in the city in more than a century.

Bowmer and all of the first responders on scene know what they signed up for — to make saves, he said, and to put the fire out. First responders are there to help and when they can't, the tragedy takes a toll on them.

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