Dramatic Conshohocken fire routs hundreds

Patrick Muldoon first felt the heat.

As he, his mother and sister were in the process of moving him into his new fourth-floor apartment in the Riverwalk at Millennium apartment complex in Conshohocken, they were suddenly aware of intense heat.

"I went to the window and looked out and the building next door was in flames," said Muldoon. The wind, he said, was blowing in his direction.

Fortunately, Muldoon and all the other tenants of the luxury complex escaped unharmed yesterday when what developed into an eight-alarm fire started in a building being constructed next door and spread rapidly. The building under construction was destroyed and four or five neighboring buildings were damaged, displacing all 375 residents, said Montgomery County's public-safety director.

More than 300 firefighters from all over Montgomery County battled the flames, which roared spectacularly into the evening sky, drawing the curious from a wide area. By 10:30 p.m., the fire that began 5 1/2 hours earlier was under control, Conshohocken fire officials said.

Late into the night, firefighters poured thousands of gallons of water on pockets of the complex that were still burning.

Often, the flames were tamped down, only to burst forth again. One firefighter who suffered smoke inhalation was taken to Chestnut Hill Hospital along with a young woman who had collapsed.

The luxury development was part of a revitalization of the riverfront area, a former industrial site, by developer Brian O'Neill.

O'Neill arrived at the fire last night and started helping to find food and water for the firefighters and hotel rooms for the displaced.

"Our focus was on feeding the firefighters," he said. Stores and restaurants in the area supplied hoagies and bottles of water for the firefighters. "We need 200 hotel rooms for the displaced."

The Red Cross set up a care center for displaced residents at the Spring Mill Fire Company, on Hector Street near Station Avenue. Red Cross spokeswoman Meghan Shaginaw said that up to 200 of them could stay at the firehouse.

Last night, spirits at the firehouse were surprisingly high. Nicole Ream, who works at a nearby hotel that was offering rooms for the displaced, said, "Everybody is calm. They are in remarkably good spirits. People are laughing."

Rand Ginsberg, senior vice president of GMH Partners, operator of a nearby apartment complex - Glen at Lafayette Hill - said his company had opened 10 units for the displaced.

"It makes sense," he said outside the firehouse. "We have the units so we want to help."

Claude Kershner, 24, who had been in his second-floor apartment only a couple of months, said he was on his way to a softball game when he got word of the fire.

"This is the largest fire I've ever seen in my life," he said. He said he lost about 75 percent of his belongings when fire spread to his building.

Thomas Sullivan, director of public safety for Montgomery County, said the firefighters had trouble getting an adequate supply of water from the hydrants in the area. Water was also taken from the nearby Schuylkill River.

He said the uncompleted building where the fire began did not have fire protection. Because the burning buildings are bordered by the river and railroad tracks, firefighters had trouble getting in position to battle the blaze.

The fire snarled traffic on the nearby Schuylkill Expressway and halted service on the R6 Norristown line.

The Victim Assistance Center at Spring Mill Fire Co., 1210 E. Hector St., will be open today from 2 to 8 p.m.

Those seeking help will be asked to provide their social security number, phone number, annual gross income, address and insurance information. *

Staff writer David Gambacorta contributed to this report.