Millville fire: Over 20 displaced after massive fire destroys 4 homes

PHILADELPHIA - After crews searched for hours on Thursday, fire officials confirmed the bodies of two missing children were located after a devastating fire swallowed their home and several others in Millville.

The deadly fire severely damaged four homes, two of them duplexes. Chief Wettstein said 21 people are now displaced.

What we know:

Firefighters were called to a property on the 300 block of South 4th Street in Millville around 11 p.m. Thursday for reports of a fire.

The 2-alarm fire destroyed two duplexes and two-single family homes, displacing 23 people from seven families, according to authorities.

Mike Whilgen was holding on tightly to his dog Bandit, the only dog he could save before the fire engulfed his duplex home. 

"Mine burnt all the way down to the ground. About 11, I heard crackling, and I go out on the porch because he’s the other half of mine and it was in flames already," said Mike Whilgen. "I tried to grab all my dogs because I had four of them. It went up fast, like in two minutes my whole living room was in flames."

Millville Fire Chief John Wettstein said the fire became "gas fed" during the firefight when two of the building collapsed and cracked a natural gas line.

Firefighters encountered water supply issues that Chief Wettstein said "hampered our effects."

"The cap on the fire hydrant was stuck, and as we were working to get the cap off so we could hook up to it, the fire hydrant itself broke. Those were our water supply issues," said Chief Wettstein who said there are no issues with water flow to hydrants in the city.

Millville Mayor Benjamin Romanik said the Water Department will look into why the hydrant broke during the incident.

Chief Wettstein said heavy machinery was brought in to dig through the rubble and aid with the search. Emergency responders were even digging through the rubble with their hands. 

No firefighters were injured in the fire. One person, a relative of the missing children, was taken to the hospital with minor injuries.

What they're saying:

Chief Wettstein said water supply issues greatly impacted how they were able to tackle the fire.

He said firefighters ran out of 1,300 gallons of water on their tanker and also encountered a hydrant issue.

The nearest hydrant wasn't working, Chief Wettstein said, so firefighters needed to run 800 feet of hose line to hydrants that were blocks away.

There was a visible outpouring of support near the scene of the fire. Several family members and close friends showed up in solidarity of the family whose children were killed.

"The girls are very sweet girls. Both of them go to our school. It’s a school in which all the families are united and it’s very painful for us to find this out," said Sister Oralia Delapaz of Bishop Schad Regional School. "The children at the school are all very sad."

Delapaz said the sisters are in the 5th and 7th grades at Bishop Schad.

Organizations such as the Red Cross, Volunteers of America, Betty’s Way and Life Worth Living were all on scene to show support to the families who are impacted and said support would be provided at Phenom Factor on South 8th Street, a few blocks aware from the fire. 

"I know how it feels to lose a child you know and it’s really hurtful, it’s hurtful to lose someone you know like children – it just really hurts. I just wanted to donate to the family because I know this is a painful moment," said Shamere Williams, a neighbor who showed up to console the family and provide financial support.

What's next:

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but not considered suspicious at this time. Fire investigators believe the fire originated in the duplex home of the two children killed in the fire.