By Troy Graham and Sam Wood
The Philadelphia Inquirer
PHILDELPHIA — The grandfather had escaped the burning house he owned for decades, but he was badly hurt.
The pregnant mother, covered in soot and clutching her youngest toddler, also had made her way to the street.
But she was screaming about her two oldest boys, trapped on the second floor of their burning Port Richmond home Tuesday afternoon.
Firefighters arrived and had to battle their way through heavy smoke and flames, neighbors said, before emerging with the boys.
“They just came out lifeless,” said neighbor Jennifer Johnson. “I’m sorry I’m upset, but I’ve never seen anything like that.”
All three boys — ages 5, 4, and 1 — were taken to St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children to be treated for burns and smoke inhalation. The 4-year-old was listed in critical condition. His brothers were listed as stable.
Their mother and grandfather were taken to Temple University Hospital. Their conditions were listed as stable.
Fire officials did not give the victims’ names, but neighbors identified the grandfather and owner of the house as Eugene Budzilo.
His son, Christopher, also lived there, along with his girlfriend and their children, Christopher, Nicholas, and Jacob, neighbors said. The son was at work when the fire began about 2 p.m., they said.
His girlfriend was due to give birth this fall.
The house, at Edgemont and Madison Streets, appeared to be gutted by the fire. Second-story windows in the front and back were gone. A computer keyboard dangled from one of the front windows.
The frame around the back window was badly charred, and the siding along the roofline was melted away. A few hours after the blaze, firefighters were shoveling debris out of that window.
Neighbor Fuzzy Gniewek said the fire appeared to have started in that back, second-floor room, which had an air conditioner in the window.
“It was probably the air conditioner, the fan overloaded,” he said.
Gniewek said he had gone to school with the grandfather, who had lived in the house for 50 years. A few days ago, however, Budzilo sold the house to Vladimir Ferko.
Ferko, who was at the fire scene, said the family had planned to leave within 30 days. He said he did not know where they were moving.
Fire officials and neighbors said both the grandfather and mother had tried to go back in the house to rescue the children, but were repelled by fire.
Johnson said the grandfather didn’t want to leave the scene, “but he was so burned.”
“He looked so lost,” she said. “I can’t get over that.”
Fire Commissioner Lloyd Ayers said the house was “terribly cluttered” with toys, clothing, and other debris.
“Those things — the plastic toys in particular — when they get started, it makes for a really hot fire with heavy soot and smoke,” he said.
Neighbors also said the family kept several dogs, cats, and other pets. With the condition of the house, they said, they had worried that something like this might happen.
“It’s a shame. It really is,” Gniewek said. “I feel sorry for the kids.”
No firefighters were injured, but Ayers said many were unsettled by the children’s injuries.
“You could see it on their faces,” Ayers said. “They knew it was a whole family that was in trouble.”
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