Colliding tragedies

Amid the ugly rubble and charred remains of what used to be 2241 S. Fifth St., there is beauty: A makeshift memorial for the 26-year-old man and two little girls who died in the Saturday-afternoon fire that tore through their apartment above CJ’s Variety Store.

In fact, by Monday, the only signs of life outside the shell of a building were the fresh-cut flowers neighbor Billy Reese and his brother Mike gingerly laid among cuddly stuffed animals and framed photographs of the victims.

"They were good people," the brothers said of the three lost in the tragedy.

Like most in this low-income, mixed-race neighborhood, the brothers were regulars at the corner market — stopping in to pick up a newspaper or rolls.

A woman who wanted to be identified only by her first name, Eileen, said while growing up on the 2200 block of South Fifth Street, she would buy penny candy from the store that was then Jim & Shay. Through the years, the corner store went through several owners and name changes.

Neighbors said the two brothers who now owned the building, whom they identified as Lonn and Ralph Prak, plan to rebuild.

Though no longer a resident of the block, Eileen regularly visits her mother there and often would see the little girls and their mother sitting outside CJ’s Variety. The woman recalled giving the cute Cambodian children candy — usually toffees.

"It’s a shame, we feel bad. Everybody feels bad," said Eileen. "They were nice people. They never bothered anybody."

As of yesterday, the blaze that killed 2-year-old Aaliyah Lorm, her 26-year-old father Poeuv Lorm and 4-year-old sister Asia Pril was still under investigation, said Fire Lt. Diane Schweizer.

The girls’ mother — Poeuv Lorm’s girlfriend — was with her 1-year-old son at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia when the fire broke out, according to neighbors.

The blaze erupted around 6 p.m. Saturday in the family’s apartment, Schweizer said. When firefighters and police arrived minutes later, the entire second floor was engulfed in flames, said South Detective Division Sgt. Tim Cooney. At 7:40 p.m., the roof collapsed, the sergeant said.

According to a neighbor, Danielle, who lives across from the store, her father noticed an orange glow, and when they looked outside, they saw the entire second floor on fire. Knowing her boyfriend, Eddie Sheehan, was in the store buying groceries, Danielle said she "freaked."

"My heart went to my feet in a second," she said.

Strangely enough, neither Sheehan nor the two CJ’s Variety employees knew the building was on fire until a kid ran into the store and told them.

"I had no idea the store was on fire. I went out, looked up and saw windows breaking and fire. I felt the heat on my face. It was intense fire," Sheehan said.

A family who lived in a rear apartment managed to escape with their children, ages 5 and 6.

Danielle’s father, Harry, and other neighbors helped the children out of windows and down from the roof.

Meanwhile, Lorm and the two children remained trapped inside the inferno.

Fire Capt. Joseph Flores said firefighters had planned to make an "interior attack" to rescue the occupants of the apartment, but conditions were so bad, their only option was an "exterior attack."

The fire was placed under control at 7:09 p.m., Schweizer said. But officials’ work was not done.

Using cadaver dogs, police scoured the rubble for the three victims.

Poeuv Lorm was the first to be recovered, at 4:10 a.m., said Cooney. Twenty minutes later, police found Pril, and almost six hours later, turned up her younger sister, the sergeant said.

Several neighbors who spoke to the Review expressed outrage at what they alleged was a delay in the fire department’s response time. Eileen claimed it took firefighters 20 minutes to arrive, while Sheehan and others said it took about 15. At least two fire companies are within a half-mile of the scene, the neighbors pointed out.

"I don’t know why it took the fire department so long to get out here. What makes me mad is this is a poor neighborhood," said Eileen. "That makes me think, if we had been Chestnut Hill or Center City, they would have been here in five minutes."

Sheehan and his girlfriend agreed. Sheehan went as far as saying if the fire department had arrived sooner, he believes the family could have been saved.

But Schweizer responded that the department was there much more quickly than perceived. The fire was reported at 6 p.m. Twenty-one seconds later, firefighters were dispatched, and at 6:06 p.m., they arrived at the scene, the lieutenant said.

"The battalion chief was on location at 6:06 p.m. From my experience, a lot of times people think it takes longer than it does [for fire trucks to arrive]," added Schweizer.

In fires the magnitude of Saturday’s blaze, the department puts out a "box," which means four engines, two ladders and two battalion chiefs respond, Schweizer said.

"Based on the closest four who are available, that’s who goes," she added. Engine 53 at Fourth Street and Moyamensing Avenue was the closest to the blaze; that unit was out on another call and didn’t respond first, but was there soon after, the lieutenant noted.