Cordesia, Odell, Vashti, Jaleel, Jessica, and Kevin Jamison

Most burials are the result of the death of a single individual, but sometimes a tragedy causes multiple fatalities, meaning multiple burials at the same time. Such was the case in 1861 with the four Gale sisters, ballerinas who lost their lives in a backstage dressing room fire. Another case was the Flat Rock Dam drowning incident in 1901 where seven teenagers died and three of them were buried here.

In this case, six children under the age of 7 succumbed to a sudden blaze as they slept on a hot Saturday night in July of 1993. It happened around midnight in the living room of a two-story, three bedroom rowhouse at 2015 Oakford Street in the Point Breeze neighborhood of South Philadelphia.

Five of the six children were siblings: Cordesia (shown at right) was 6, Odell was almost 4, Vashti (at left) was 2 1/2, and twins Jaleel and Jessica, were 19 months. Their mother was Vashti Jamison, 29, whose two older children, ages 11 and 8, managed to escape. The sixth child was cousin Kevin Jamison (at right), age 5. His mother, Bernice, was Vashti’s sister. She also had two older children but they weren’t at home at the time.

In addition to the ten children, there were five adults living in that space. Sadly, none of them were right there when the fire first ignited, but two of them were only a block away. Vashti, Bernice, and a brother, Richard, lived with their mother, Roberta Jamison, 52, who owned the  house. The fifth adult was Roberta’s boyfriend, Joseph Smith.

Three of the adults were out late on that Saturday night, July 24. Roberta, Richard, and Bernice were with some relatives at a birthday party following the funeral of Roberta’s brother earlier that day. Joseph Smith had just left to walk to a store at the end of the block and get a soda when Vashti heard some people arguing on the street. One of them was a friend so she went out to help settle the matter. She decided to walk her friend home, a few blocks away, but not before asking a teenage neighbor to watch the children. 

The girl, Bidea Childs, was a regular babysitter for the Jamisons. She went in to check on the children, then returned home to put on her sneakers. When she came out less than five minutes later, she saw the two oldest run out the front door yelling “Fire! Fire!” She ran to their door and saw little Vashti trying to reach her but the flames forced Bidea back and singed her hair. A man from down the street with a fire extinguisher pulled her back. He started spraying but the flames spread so quickly it was more than he could handle.

Joseph Smith was walking home, saw the smoke and commotion, and immediately ran to the fire station, literally around the corner at 20th and Federal Streets. They were there within a minute but couldn’t save anyone.

How did such a raging fire get started? The fire department’s investigators concluded that a match was dropped before it was fully extinguished by a careless smoker. It had been more than eight years since a house fire in the city claimed as many lives. Most were due to smokers or lack of smoke detectors.

The department spokesperson, Lt. Jamal Benin said the fire was reported at 12:20 am on Sunday, July 25. That was about 20 minutes after “an unidentified adult entered the property, with the owner’s permission, in search of matches to light a cigarette.” 

Eight children were sleeping in the living room – two on the sofa and the others on mattresses on the floor – because the air conditioner was downstairs, providing relief from the hot night air. The match ignited sheets on a chair, and that air conditioner fanned the flames into the dining room and up the open stairwell to the second floor.

Vashti was unemployed and struggling to make ends meet. The older four of her children were just starting to get support from their father, but the father of the other three was missing. City officials said the Department of Human Services had been supplying assistance to the family on a voluntary basis, which typically included instruction on nutrition, health, and cleanliness. 

Roberta the matriarch had also grown up with lots of people in cramped conditions.. The 1950 census listed her in a family of 13 children on Gerritt Street, seven blocks south of her 1993 address. A day after the blaze, a reporter picked up on her deep sorrow but also on her pain from hearing some of the neighborhood gossip and rumors. There was never any suggestion of child abuse but people can be cruel in their judgement of others. Still, the community rallied behind the family, sharing the tears and contributing in practical ways.

In fact, a movement was started almost immediately by volunteers to rebuild the home. Overwhelmed by the generosity they received, the Jamisons said they would be grateful to accept it and return. However, a visual check of the address decades later shows only an empty lot.

Funeral services were held at Tasker Street Baptist Church with an overflow crowd lining the sidewalks outside. The Red Cross and donations from hundreds of individuals took care of the funeral expenses, including the six little cream-colored caskets adorned with white carnations. They were then brought here for burial. Life went on, as it had to, for Roberta, her children, and the remaining grandchildren.