Son says Waterford family killed in house fire over another man's drug debt, Philip and Kim English died with sons Callum 12 and Jayden nine in blaze treated as arson, Gardaí open murder inquiry as two other children remain critical

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Philip and Kim English died alongside their sons Callum, 12, and Jayden, nine, when fire swept through their home in the Birchwood area of Waterford City. Gardaí are treating the blaze as arson and have opened a murder investigation. Two other children were critically injured.

A son of Philip English, John James English, told RTÉ News the family were murdered over a drug debt that was not theirs. "It's a family, you know," he said. "Twenty grand worth of a debt; is that worth nearly five lives?" He said the family had been targeted for some time but were not involved in drugs and were "innocent".

If the son's account is right, the family knew it was being targeted and could not stop what was coming. The state's response arrived after the fire: a murder investigation, searches of multiple properties, electronic devices and vehicles seized, and appeals for anyone with information to come forward. A €20,000 debt collected by fire does not check whose door is burning — the people with the least connection to the transaction pay the highest price.

Hundreds attended a vigil at Sacred Heart Church on Wednesday evening, where the parish priest, Father Gerry Chestnutt, told a congregation of around 500 that what happened on Birch Avenue "should never, ever have happened". He called on those responsible to "stand up, admit what you did and face the legal consequences", and described the victims as "an innocent family preparing for a new day" — parents getting their children ready for school — "taken from our midst in a most horrific and violent way".

James English, an uncle of Philip and godfather to one of the children who died, appealed to whoever was responsible to "own up, be a man". Anne English, Philip's former wife, said she learned of the deaths from a phone call from a family member. "They were a lovely couple. Never bothering anyone. The kids was his life," she said of the family. "The kids were his life."

On the green in Birchwood, hundreds of balloons were released as family members sang You'll Never Walk Alone.