The Eastern Express Times
ALLENTOWN, Pa. — One child was in critical condition and at least six other people were displaced following an arson early Monday in the city.
Allentown fire Capt. Lee Laubach says the fire started shortly before 4 a.m. Firefighters had to force their way into a second-floor apartment to rescue two children and two adults.
Heavy smoke disoriented the family and forced a 5-year-old girl to be admitted to a hospital. She was listed in critical but stable condition later Monday morning.
Investigators say three other people escaped from a first-floor apartment on their own. The American Red Cross of the Greater Lehigh Valley put the number of people displaced from the first floor at four.
Fire officials say the fire appears to have been deliberately set on the back porch.
The American Red Cross chapter said it assisted two adults and another child living on the second floor as well as helping two adults and two children living in the first-floor apartment.
The families received lodging, meals, infant formula and supplies and personal care items, according to a news release from the Red Cross chapter.
Allentown fire officials did not return repeated calls for further comment.
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