A March 29 fire that broke out in a second-floor apartment on Erie’s east side has claimed a third life after a 5-month-old girl died at a Pittsburgh hospital, according to the Erie Bureau of Police.
The infant, whose name has not been released, was pronounced dead April 3, police reported April 6. She had been hospitalized in Pittsburgh since being transferred there from UPMC Hamot following the fire at 535½ E. 26th St. on the late afternoon of March 29.
The child is the fifth person to die in a house fire in Erie County so far this year and the 13th since January 2025.
Erie police are still investigating the circumstances surrounding the fire, Police Chief Rick Lorah said April 6.
Erie Bureau of Fire crews rescued the girl, along with two older siblings, from a bedroom in the second-floor apartment after a fire broke out in the kitchen shortly before 4:30 p.m. March 29. The other children, identified by Erie County Coroner Lyell Cook as Tobias Huff, 5, and Da’liyla Huff, 3, were pronounced dead at UPMC Hamot after being taken there from the fire scene, authorities reported.
A 5-month-old girl hospitalized in Pittsburgh since being rescued from her burning apartment at 535½ E. 26th St. March 29 died April 3, Erie police reported. Two other children, ages 5 and 3, also died in the fire.
Authorities have said that it does not appear that any adults were home at the time the fire was spotted and reported by neighbors.
An investigation by Erie Bureau of Fire marshals, with assistance from Erie police, agents with the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Pennsylvania State Police, determined the fire started in the second-floor kitchen of the two-unit apartment house, but the cause of the fire was unknown.
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Erie police detectives investigating the incident said they have reviewed surveillance video and have spoken to a number of people in the probe.
Anyone with information that could assist in the ongoing fire investigation is asked to call Erie police Detective Sgt. David Madurski at 814-870-1508.
Contact Tim Hahn at thahn@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Third sibling dies following rescue from burning Erie apartment