By DAVID GAMBACORTA
215-854-2643
A ferocious rowhouse fire that killed an East Mount Airy teenager Sunday night and left her mother in critical condition was ruled arson, investigators said yesterday.
Fire Chief William Dell said dogs trained by the Arson Task Force twice picked up the scent of accelerants at the scene of the one-alarm fire on Pleasant Street near Chew Avenue. Dell said it would take several days for the accelerant to be identified through lab tests.
Police are looking for two males in their late teens who were spotted running from the home as the first floor burst into flames about 10:30 p.m. Sunday, said Officer Yolanda Dawkins, of the police Public Affairs Office.
The fire killed Tynisha Robinson, 17, who was being rushed to Albert Einstein Medical Center when she died of smoke inhalation. Her mother, Jasmine, 46, was listed in critical condition last night at Temple University Hospital.
The police Homicide Division is now in charge of the investigation, Dawkins said.
This is the second rowhouse fire of the year that has turned into a homicide investigation, Dell noted.
Police arrested Brandon Foster in the stabbing death of his ex-girlfriend, Samantha Zenszer, and the beating death of her great-grandmother, Violet McCall, inside their Holmesburg home on Jan. 3. Police said Foster had set the home on fire to cover up the crimes.
Philadelphia Daily News (http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/)