Couple in their 50s die in Bustleton house fire

By Michela Winberg and Emily Babay / Staff Writers

While he watched "Law & Order" in his Bustleton basement just before midnight Tuesday, Eddie Stenega saw a flash of light through a basement window.

He ran from his home right away, worried that his backyard shed had caught fire.

But the flames were bigger than that, Stenega, 76, quickly discovered. His next-door neighbor's home in the 9800 block of Bridle Road was on fire - the back of the house almost completely in flames, he said Wednesday.

And two of Stenega's neighbors - a 58-year-old woman and her 55-year-old husband - were found on the first floor, authorities said. Deputy Fire Commissioner Jesse Wilson said emergency responders performed CPR on the couple but "we lost both of them."

Their names had not been released as of Wednesday evening, pending notification of relatives.

Stenega said he had just seen the couple when they returned home Tuesday after dropping a daughter off at college in New York.

"They were just nice people," Stenega said. "I still don't believe it."

One firefighter was treated for minor injuries, officials said. The cause of the blaze was under investigation.

Bob Sinclair, 72, who lives a few houses away, said he's seen big fires before, but nothing so close to home.

"It was on the right side, and the rear, but then it started getting higher and higher," Sinclair said. "It blew up."

He called it a wake-up call for fire safety in his own home. He worries for his sister-in-law, who lives with him and recently had a stroke.

"When my kids were younger, I always had a thing: If there was ever a fire, this is what we've got to do. We have to have a plan," Sinclair said.

The fatal fire broke out just hours before Philadelphia officials held a ceremony for Fire Prevention Week, which is next week.

"As we saw earlier this morning, we're having too many fire deaths," Fire Commissioner Adam Thiel said at the ceremony.

This year's theme is careless smoking, which officials called a major cause of home fire deaths.

"We really do need everyone involved in this effort to get fire deaths down to zero," Thiel said.

mwinberg@philly.com @mwinberg_