Four Large Blazes Keep Philadelphia Firefighters Busy

Fires raged across Philadelphia overnight, sending firefighters to deal with blazes in Center City and North Philly.

“It’s been an incredibly busy morning,” the city’s fire department wrote on Twitter on Monday morning after firefighters responded to four large fires, including one three-alarm blaze.

A little after 4 a.m. Monday, the city’s fire department responded to a blaze at a Checkers on 29th Street in Strawberry Mansion. The fire was quickly put under control, and there were no reports of injuries.

Minutes later, officials said a two-alarm blaze spread through three rowhouses in the 1200 block of Spruce Street in Center City. According to Commissioner Adam Thiel, about 19 to 20 residents were displaced by the fire, which was brought under control around 7 a.m.

Thiel said one firefighter suffered minor injuries combating the rowhouse fire, but there were no reports of injured residents.

Shortly thereafter, firefighters responded to another fire in North Philly, this one at the intersection of 28th Street and Allegheny Avenue. A 60-year-old man was hospitalized, but is currently in stable condition, according to Fox29. Officials said the fire was quickly brought under control.

Just after 6 a.m., a large fire broke out in an empty storefront on the corner of Germantown Avenue and Lehigh Avenue. More than 120 firefighters responded to the three-alarm blaze.

“Please avoid the area,” the Fire Department said on Twitter.

On Saturday night, a 71-year-old woman was pronounced dead following a fire at a four-floor apartment building on the 1700 block of West Godfrey Avenue. The fire was ruled accidental.

———

©2020 The Philadelphia Inquirer

Visit The Philadelphia Inquirer at www.inquirer.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.