Pittsburgh, PA – On Tuesday, June 12, 2007 at approximately 1:23 a.m. Allegheny 9-1-1 received several calls reporting a structure fire with several children trapped, at 6429 Winslow Street, located in the Lincoln-Larimer section of the City of Pittsburgh. The following units were dispatched on the initial assignment; 15 Engine, 8 Engine, 7 Engine, 8 Truck, 4033 (District Battalion Chief), 17 Engine (Go Team), 4032 (Safety Chief), MAC-2 (Mobile Cascade Unit), Rescue 1 and Medic units.

Pittsburgh Police officers from zone 5 arrived on the scene within a minute and reported a house fire “going good”. A neighbor had already rescued entered the burning residence and led one child to safety. Officers attempted to enter the burning residence to rescue the children, who were reported to be trapped on the 2nd floor; however officers were forced to retreat, due to heavy fire and smoke conditions. Officers reported that the stairwell to the 2nd floor was engulfed in flames and that the ceiling had already begun to collapse.

First fire unit arrived on the scene within minutes and reported heavy fire and smoke issuing from two 2 ½ story residential structures, with immediate exposure problems on side “D”. A frantic, hysterical female told emergency personnel that her three babies were still inside. Crews immediately laddered the structure and initiated a primary search for the reported trapped victims. Immediate 2nd and 3rd alarm assignments were requested for manpower and water supply. The following units were dispatched on the 2nd alarm; 6 Engine, 18 Engine, 6 Truck, 403 (Deputy Chief Scherer) and 614 (Training Academy Chief Cox). 3rd alarm included; 3 Engine, 12 Engine and Unit 40 (Assistant Chief).

Within minutes, Captain Wyzomirski of 8 Truck and his crew made entry to the 2nd floor via ladders. While conducting a search for the children utilizing a thermal imaging camera, crews quickly located an unresponsive child on the floor. The child was handed off to another firefighter, who handed the lifeless child off to a paramedic, who was waiting on the ladder. Captain Wyzomirski then located a 2nd child lying on a bed. The child was quickly handed off to another firefighter, who then handed the child off to a waiting paramedic. Based on the female’s cries for help that her three babies were inside, Captain Wyzomirski believed that he was only searching for one more unaccounted for child. Captain Wyzomirski was unaware that two additional children were trapped with the raging inferno. Captain Wyzomirski located the third child on the floor. The 3rd victim was quickly turned over to the paramedics.

Several Paramedics feverishly worked on the victims at the scene and rushed them to local burn hospitals, where the three young children succumbed to their injuries. Firefighters from 15 Engine were making an aggressive attack on the heavy fire on the 2nd floor, when they discovered two more young lifeless bodies on the 2nd floor. Command was advised of the additional victims that were discovered. With the fire rapidly spreading throughout the structure and into the exposures, as well as the rapidly deteriorating conditions, all crews were ordered to evacuate the structures. Command requested a 4th alarm for additional manpower at approximately 1:34 a.m. The following units were dispatched on the 4th alarm; 32 Engine, 10 Engine, 17 Truck and Official 4 (Chief Huss).

Crews set up for a full scale defensive attack, using several attack lines, deck guns and aerial master streams. While several crews concentrated on suppression efforts to darken the heavy volume of fire, additional support crews worked on protecting the exposures and limiting any further spreading of the intense flames and radiant heat. Crews battled the intense blaze for over an hour before knocking down the bulk of the fire. Command placed the fire under control at approximately 3:08 a.m. Crews remained on the scene for an extended period of time, performing extensive overhaul operations and dousing hot spots, as well as assisting with the removal of the young victims from the structure and assisting the investigators.

Salvation Army personnel were at the scene with their mobile canteen units, providing food and drinks to the emergency personnel. Several City of Pittsburgh police homicide detectives were at the scene, along with investigators from the City of Pittsburgh Arson Squad, as well as the Allegheny County Fire Marshal, sifting through the charred remains of the house, in efforts to find evidence as to what caused one of the deadliest fires in the City of Pittsburgh. Preliminary investigations indicate that children playing with matches may have sparked the deadly blaze; however the fire is still under investigation. The fire caused an estimated $55,000 in damages.

The five young fire victims who perished in the inferno have been identified as follows; Dezekiah Holyfield 3-years-old, Cedano Holyfield 4-years-old, Daekia Holyfield 7-years-old and two friends of the Holyfield children; Andre Rankin 6-years-old and Azquel Rankin 5-years-old. The two children who escaped the deadly inferno have been identified as; Huedon Chambliss 8-years-old and Jevon Irwin 8-years-old. All five of the young victims who perished in this deadly blaze, were laid to rest on Saturday, June 16, 2007. Shakita Mangham and Furrah Love, who are the mothers of the young victims, were not at home at the time of the blaze. One of the adult females told authorities that a 17-year-old female was at the residence babysitting the children; however that was later found to be false information. It was determined that the young children were indeed left home alone, unsupervised.

The loss of several young lives was not just a sad, devastating blow to the Lincoln Larimer community, but to the Emergency personnel who did everything they could possibly do to try to rescue those young children from the raging flames. Several critical incident stress debriefings were set up for the emergency personnel that responded to and were affected by the loss of the five young lives.