A year after a deadly Fairmount fire, the victims’ graves finally have a headstone

After a blaze tore through a Fairmount rowhouse last year and killed a family of 12, the victims were buried in unmarked graves. But now, the plots finally have a headstone — in time for the one-year anniversary of Philadelphia’s deadliest tragedy in a generation.

Unveiled Thursday afternoon, the headstone comes after a fund-raising effort started by the Lee Monument Co. Owner Jim Lee partnered with eight local businesses to raise money for the marker, which was installed late last month.

“When you see something like that happening in your community, it drives a stake through your heart,” Lee said of the Fairmount fire. “Everybody in the entire city had their heart just driven into the ground.”

The fire started in the early morning hours of Jan. 5, 2022, likely after a 5-year-old boy playing with a lighter accidentally lit a Christmas tree on the home’s second floor, officials said. Flames and smoke quickly rose to the Philadelphia Housing Authority-operated home’s third floor.

Firefighters arrived on scene, and declared the fire under control about an hour later. But the blaze had claimed the lives of Rosalee McDonald, 33; Quintien Tate-McDonald, 16; Destiny McDonald, 15; Dekwan Robinson, 8; J’Kwan Robinson, 5; Taniesha Robinson, 3; Tiffany Robinson, 2; Virginia Thomas, 30; Shaniece Wayne, 10; Natasha Wayne, 8; Janiyah Roberts, 3; and Quinsha White, 18.

The home had six smoke alarms, but none were functioning. Pennsylvania congressional leaders have since sought to beef up regulations around smoke detectors in public housing.

The omnibus spending bill passed by Congress last month included an amendment to federal housing law that would require hard-wired or tamper-resistant smoke detectors at all federally subsidized units. While the PHA has said that it uses hard-wired or tamper-proof alarms equipped with 10-year batteries in its roughly 13,000 units, there was no such requirement for housing providers nationwide.

The 5-year-old boy and a father to four of the children survived, as did five occupants in the building’s lower unit. A funeral for the victims two weeks after the fire drew hundreds of mourners to Temple University’s Liacouras Center.

After the service, 10 hearses transported the deceased in their coffins to Chelten Hills Cemetery, where they were buried in a private ceremony. Now, a large headstone finally sits atop their graves.

At more than five feet long and 50 inches tall, and weighing in at about two tons, the newly installed marker covers the graves of all the victims. It includes their photos and information, as well as a QR code that leads viewers to a tribute video. It is made from Indian Black Granite, because, Lee said, that stone is the best canvas for engraving pictures.

But it’s not the first headstone Lee has installed free of charge. He estimates that over the last 15 years, he’s installed 52 headstones for children whose families who could not afford one.

Now, Lee has made that effort official with the establishment of the Lee Monument Foundation, a nonprofit that will donate headstones to Philadelphia families who have lost children to violence. Lee plans to kick off the foundation’s efforts this summer by donating 100 headstones to Philadelphia families with its official launch.

While the foundation hasn’t fully launched, the headstone for the Fairmount fire victims is something of an unofficial starting point. Lee started working on the foundation after losing his sister, Rosalyn Lee, to COVID-19 two years ago, which left him wanting to do more for his community. He decided to continue his headstone donations, but on a larger level.

Lee regularly works in Chelten Hills Cemetery, and saw that the graves of the Fairmount fire victims had gone unmarked.

“I saw what I saw, and it wasn’t right,” Lee said. “It wasn’t sitting with me well.”

Lee said he wanted to make a marker, and began contacting other business owners. He received help from businesses and organizations that include Never Alone Home Care, Club Valiants Inc., and the Quaker State Funeral Directors Association. Chelten Hills Cemetery, he said, helped cover the costs of pouring a concrete foundation for the headstone.

In total, the headstone project cost tens of thousands of dollars. And winter weather made installation difficult — but Lee was adamant that it be there in time for the one-year anniversary of the fire. Now, he hopes the headstone can provide a small bit of comfort to survivors.

“They’ll never get full comfort, but to know you have something for them on the anniversary date will make them feel better,” he said.