South Philadelphia fire raises complaints about station closings

Fire tore through an apartment building in South Philadelphia early Thursday, leaving more than a dozen people temporarily homeless.

The cause of the fast-moving blaze at 2001 S. Fourth St. in Pennsport, which firefighters needed almost two hours to control, was not clear. Firefighters rescued several people from the three-story building, and one resident was taken to Methodist Hospital in stable condition. The building has 11 units, and houses 15 to 20 people.

The two-alarm fire erupted in the neighborhood of a firehouse that is scheduled to close temporarily under a cost-cutting measure launched by Mayor Nutter in August.

That led neighbors and residents of the burned building to hold a protest Thursday afternoon, arguing that the fire could have been fatal if the station a block away, at Fourth and Snyder Avenue, had been closed.

"This thing could have been an inferno," said labor leader John "Johnny Doc" Dougherty, who lives nearby. "This isn't a game. This isn't about politics. You can't shut firehouses. We may not need them every day, but when we need them, we need them."

Twenty-three of the city's 56 fire companies are on the schedule for "rolling brownouts," in which three at time are closed during the day and three at night. The city hopes to save more than $3 million.

Nutter did not return a call for comment.

The next-closest station is more than 15 blocks away, at Third Street and Washington Avenue.

Fire officials said firefighters had made it to the building around 5:30 a.m. with little time to spare, finding smoke engulfing the area.

The fire trucks awoke building residents Mark Roush; his wife, Nicole; and their 12-year-old son, Jordan.

"There were no smoke alarms or lights, like there are supposed to be," Roush said. "When we woke up, the whole apartment was full of smoke."

The thick smoke awoke residents in nearby buildings, who could not tell where it was coming from and went into the street.

Firefighters rescued people from the third and first floors. Five children and 12 adults were evacuated, said fire officials, and some residents lost everything they owned.

Flames burned through the roof shortly after commanders sounded the evacuation, and the entire second floor appeared to collapse.

The fire was under control shortly before 7:30 a.m., but firefighters doused the building until early afternoon.

Matthew Snyder, who lives down the street with his wife and son, said several minutes had passed between the arrivals of the first and second fire companies.

"You wake up at 5 in the morning, and your house is full of smoke, and you don't know whether your local fire station is open," he said. "It's a disgrace."