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Hunting Park man, 27, dies in house fire

Firefighters remove victim yesterday from scene of blaze, the second fatal fire in Philadelphia in two days.

By DANA DiFILIPPO, difilid@phillynews.com 215-854-5934

Posted: September 30, 2010

Bobby Rodriguez realized a lifelong dream last week when he opened his own auto-repair and -inspection shop in Hunting Park.

But his dream was tragically short-lived: The 27-year-old Hunting Park man died in a smoky blaze in his home early yesterday.

"He just opened up [the garage]. He had so much ahead of him," his best friend, Alex Cruz, said yesterday, crying as he stood outside Rodriguez's charred rowhouse on Luray Street near Fairhill.

Rodriguez's death was the second fire fatality in two days, bumping the city's fire deaths to 22 so far this year, compared with 23 at the same time last year. A 57-year-old man died in a Roxborough house fire early Monday.

The official causes of both blazes remain undetermined, although neighbors of both victims said that they fell asleep while smoking cigarettes.

Yesterday's blaze broke out in Rodriguez's second-floor bedroom sometime before 6 a.m. and was under control within 14 minutes, Executive Fire Chief Daniel Williams said.

Rodriguez was declared dead at the scene. His father suffered smoke inhalation and was taken to Albert Einstein Medical Center, Williams said.

A few hours later, Rodriguez's relatives and friends gathered to mourn at the two-story, painted-brick rowhouse he shared with his parents.

They remembered him as a generous "super handyman" who built a bathroom on the first floor of his home to accommodate his father, whose medical problems kept him from easily navigating stairs.

"He was very devoted to his parents," said Rosa Deyne, his godmother and neighbor.

He worked for years as a state auto-inspection officer before saving enough money to open his own garage last week, Cruz said.

"He liked to fix things, create things, make them better," Cruz said.