Deadly house fire in Petersburg, Virginia: the human cost of social inequality

As with so many house fires in the United States, the likely cause of the blaze was the space heaters or candles used by families to heat and light their homes after electricity and gas service had been cut off. Each winter in the US hundreds perish in such fires, whose root cause is desperate poverty and the subordination of social needs to the profits of the energy companies. Such a tragedy, occurring in a small Southern city of only 30,479, provides an insight into the conditions of life facing millions of people in cities and towns across the country.

The Hazer household’s smoke detectors did not work, and the fire burned for about an hour before the husband of one of the sisters awoke. He found that the fire had charred a room, and shouted to get everyone out of the house. Some were stuck on the second floor; a 14-year-old boy jumped from the second-floor porch after failing to reach the younger boys, and 13-year-old Yorel Hazer was forced to do the same, holding and protecting her six-month-old brother Damien and breaking her own shoulder in the fall. Diamond Hazer suffered from severe burns to the face, arms and legs from trying to save the children. All of those who survived were taken to a hospital in Richmond, and have since been released.

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http://wsws.org/articles/2007/feb2007/pete-f01.shtml