Young siblings among 3 dead after house fire in Philadelphia’s Hunting Park section, mother says

This story originally appeared on 6abc.

Two young siblings, along with their mom’s cousin, died in an early morning house fire in Philadelphia’s Hunting Park section, according to the children’s mother.

Officials said it was a fast-moving fire that broke out around 1 a.m. on Tuesday in the 3400 block of Hope Street, near Tioga.

The fire commissioner said first responders arrived within four minutes of the initial call.

Firefighters arrived to find an active fire in the kitchen area.

A 46-year-old woman, later identified as Nidre Annette Ayala, was found unresponsive on the stairs leading to the second floor.

She was taken to Temple University Hospital in critical condition with significant burns. She later succumbed to her injuries and was pronounced dead at 5:11 am.

Two children, 6-year-old Kataleya Garcia and her 5-year-old brother, Sebastian Rodriguez-DeJesus, were found unresponsive in an upstairs bedroom with severe burns.

Both were transported to St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, where they were later pronounced dead.

The mother was not at home at the time and told Action News her cousin was watching the children.

Deputy Fire Chief Frank Hannan said there were no working smoke detectors inside the home.

“I most certainly want to remind everyone the importance of having working smoke alarms in your home. They give you that early warning, that advance notification. If you do not have working smoke alarms, please call 311 and we will come out and install them for you,” the commissioner added.

Chopper 6 was overhead as fire investigators got to work trying to figure out what sparked the deadly blaze.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Investigators say, at this time, there is no indication this was an act of arson.