Homes evacuated in Northern Liberties factory blaze

FIFTEEN PEOPLE were evacuated from rowhouses in Northern Liberties after a smoky three-alarm fire ate through an adjacent two-story vacant factory yesterday afternoon, authorities said.

Deputy Fire Chief Joe McGraw said the evacuees were from "two to three homes to the left and right" of the blaze in the red-brick former Pennsylvania Engineering Co. building, on Howard Street at O'Neil, just south of Girard Avenue.

A plume of smoke was visible for miles after the fire broke out just before 3 p.m. The fire was brought under control by 4:30, authorities said. The cause was being investigated by the Fire Marshal's Office but was not thought to be suspicious, McGraw said.

All evacuees had places of their own to spend the night.

One man suffered minor injuries when he fell near the blaze, McGraw said. It was not immediately known whether the injured man was a next-door neighbor who apparently tried to battle the blaze himself.

"I saw the guy [from] the house next door trying to fight the fire with a garden hose, but the firefighter knocked him out of the way," said Al Bloomer, 57, who lives near Columbia and Girard. " 'Cause, you know, what's that gonna do?"