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Kensington junkyard reopens, again, after major fire

Philadelphia's Department of Licenses and Inspections said certain conditions it had set had been met by the junkyard.

Firefighters battle a three alarm junkyard fire at Tulip and Somerset streets in Kensington, Tuesday, July 10, 2018. STEVEN M. FALK / Staff Photographer
Firefighters battle a three alarm junkyard fire at Tulip and Somerset streets in Kensington, Tuesday, July 10, 2018. STEVEN M. FALK / Staff PhotographerRead moreSTEVEN M. FALK
    by Jason Nark
    Updated 
    Published 

A Kensington junkyard that caught fire last month has been permitted to reopen — again — after addressing code violations.

The city's Department of Licenses and Inspections had ordered the junkyard at Somerset and Tulip Streets, Philadelphia Metal & Resource Recovery, to close last month. L&I required the facility's owners to reduce scrap piles to 10 feet and create clear fire lanes between piles.

Karen Guss, an L&I spokeswoman, said Saturday afternoon that the owners met those requirements.

Earlier this month, Common Pleas Court Judge Paula A. Patrick had rejected a request by the junkyard to reopen, saying it first had to resolve multiple code violations. She gave owner David Feinberg a week to prepare for an inspection.

"We believe that aggressive use of cease-operations order was key factor in owner getting the work done so quickly," Guss said in an email Saturday.

>> READ MORE: Kensington junkyard: Site of spectacular fire, violations, reopens for business

The July 1 fire grew to four alarms and sent thick, acrid smoke through the neighborhood. Feinberg told news outlets he believed heroin users had started it. He could not be reached for comment Saturday afternoon.

The junkyard, which reopened for the first time just two weeks after the blaze, was then hit with a cease-operations order by L&I.

>> READ MORE: Fire-damaged junkyard ordered to shut down

Guss said L&I would continue to monitor and reinspect the property. The city has a hearing in an ongoing case against Philadelphia Metal & Resource Recovery on Aug. 30. Guss said the city would be asking for "hundreds of thousands of dollars" in fines. L&I has cited the facility multiple times for violations in the last 10 years.