On the morning of January 5, 2022, a fire tore through a row house converted into apartments in the Fairmount neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

[6] The units were inspected by the PHA separately in April and May 2021 and both were found to have working smoke detectors at that time.

Firefighters responded by about 6:40 a.m.,[9] finding a heavy fire coming from the kitchen area and heading up the staircase to the third floor.

[8] Firefighters and investigators believe that the fire began at a Christmas tree in the southwest corner of the second floor unit, near the open stairwell to the third story.

A 5-year-old child was found on the second floor and an adult was able to escape out a window, with both classified as critically injured and hospitalized.

[11] The child later told investigators at the hospital, that he had been playing with an orange cigarette lighter and accidentally set the tree on fire.

"[19] Fire officials said the building was overcrowded, with 26 people inside a structure that was meant to accommodate two families.