The scene of Tuesday's fire in Larimer that killed five children was the site of a vigil of sorts around noon yesterday.

About 50 people joined in prayers led by clergy from in and near the neighborhood, and condolences were offered by several speakers, including Mayor Luke Ravenstahl.

	Pam Panchak, Post-Gazette Lakeisha Wolf, left, of East Liberty, and Sapina Pickett, of Wilkinsburg, take a moment to remember the young victims of the Larimer fire after a community vigil at the site yesterday. Click photo for larger image.

"This is us coming together to commemorate these young people, the family and the community," said Rashad Byrdsong, director of the Community Empowerment Association Inc. in Homewood.

"This was something personal to our community, because each child and each family belong to us."

Dozens of memorials lay on the sidewalk, steps and front porch of the burned out, boarded up house on Winslow Street.

A homemade sympathy card, signed by young and old, and a front page newspaper clipping of photos of the deceased children hung on the porch bannister.

Seven children were in the house when the fire broke out sometime after 1 a.m.

Two of them survived. Jevon Irwin, 8, the eldest of Shakita Mangham's four children, and Huedon Chambliss, 8, the eldest of Fuhara Love's three children who were visiting from Hazelwood, managed to escape the blaze.

		Listen in Excerpts of comments at a vigil for the victims of the Larimer fire: The Rev. Eugene Blackwell, pastor of Bethesda Presbyterian Church Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl Dawud Akbar, clinical psychotherapist and director of the Nzinga Institute Rashad Byrdsong, executive director of the Community Empowerment Association Inc.

Five others did not.

They were Ms. Mangham's youngest three: Dezekiah Holyfield, 3, Cedan'o Holyfield, 4, and Daekia Holyfield, 7; and Ms. Love's children: Azquel Rankin, 5, and Andre Rankin, 6.

None of the children's immediate family members was present yesterday.

Mr. Byrdsong and other speakers described the fatal fire as analogous to a metaphysical fire that still burns, unchecked. Namely, Mr. Byrdsong said, the structures of education, economic development, social services and other aspects of life have disintegrated under the heat.

"This is a wake-up call," said Dawud Akbar, a clinical psychotherapist and director of the Nzinga Institute.

"The fire is metaphysical, and we're the firemen," he added.

Mayor Ravenstahl offered his condolences to the two families and called on people to support each other.

"We need to rise up. We need to rally, and we need to take action as was said earlier.

"Our commitment from the government side is there, it will continue to be there. It's going to take hard work. It's going to take most importantly, us working together to avoid situations like the one that happened behind us early Tuesday morning," Mr. Ravenstahl said.

A joint funeral will be held for all five of the victims at Mount Ararat Baptist Church in Larimer tomorrow at 11 a.m.

Visitation for the Holyfield children will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. today at Samuel E. Coston Funeral Home, 427 Lincoln Ave., Larimer.

Visitation for the Rankin children also will be held today, from 2 to 8 p.m., at House of Law, 9406 Frankstown Road, Penn Hills.

Coston funeral director Roland Criswell, who is a member at Mount Ararat, said the two mothers had expressed interest in having the funerals at the same time and location.

Mr. Criswell directed them to the youth minister at Mount Ararat, the Rev. Robert James, who helped coordinate the arrangements.

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Correction/Clarification: (Published June 16, 2007) Rashad Byrdsong, director of Community Empowerment Association Inc. in Homewood, was among the speakers at a vigil June 14, 2007 outside the burned out house where five children were killed last Tuesday. Mr. Byrdsong's last name was misspelled in this story as originally published June 15, 2007.