At least 20 people cannot go home and an unknown number are unable to show up for work after a six-alarm fire ravaged a Kensington warehouse yesterday. PECO shut off power to scores of customers, and El service was disrupted.
An investigation is underway into the fire, reported at 4:25 p.m. yesterday at FixtureOne, 1338 N. Front St. Ron Dascenzo of FixtureOne - marketer of store fixtures, cabinetry and showcases - said this afternoon that the company was not prepared to comment.
Mayor Nutter, who visited the site this morning, said it was "too early" to say when the 20 residents evacuated from the 1300 block of Hope Street and on Front Street would be able to return home. The evacuees are staying with friends and relatives, he said.
SEPTA is busing El passengers between the Spring Garden and Berks Street stations, and hopes to reopen the closed section of track by rush hour tomorrow, spokesman Felipe Suarez said.
"We got a break as far as ridership and inconveniencing our regular passengers," he said, noting that today is a holiday.
Power has been restored to the majority of the more than 100 PECO customers affected, spokesman Michael Wood said. Eight customers will remain without power indefinitely, he said.
About 160 fire department personnel responded to the fire, said Philadelphia Fire Commissioner Lloyd Ayers. Firefighters placed the blaze under control at 7:30 p.m. No injuries were reported.
"It was like a lumberyard in there," said Ayers, who joined the mayor at the scene. "Furnishings, display cases, lots of wood . . . It made for a hot fire."
Ayers said FixtureOne comprised a three-story building, a four-story building and a one-story addition, on the south side.
One wall, near the El, is being taken down by hand to avoid a collapse onto the tracks, Nutter and Ayers said.
"Once we get that wall down, we're going to make another assessment," said Ayers, adding that it's likely the entire business will need to be razed.
It was unknown how many people worked at the site, but Ayers said a shift had worked yesterday
"There's going to be a lot of folks affected, jobs, livelihoods," he said. "People want to come to work. They need to get a paycheck."
John Grone was among residents affected. One of the 20 who were evacuated, he returned to his rowhouse in the 1300 block of Hope Street this morning to find that his two pythons had not survived.
