Residents displaced following 4-alarm Frankford fire
FRANKFORD - Firefighters battled a 4-alarm blaze in Frankford that tore through several stores and apartments.
"For something to happen all of a sudden like that. It's crazy," said Bianca Rodriguez sitting on the steps of her Frankford home just feet away from a fire that could have taken out the entire block.
"When I first noticed it was a bunch of smoke coming out the windows," said Rodriguez.
SkyFOX flew over the area of the 4500 block of Frankford Avenue where investigators say a building erupted in flames just before 1 p.m. Friday.
"You could see the smoke from the door. I said holy Christ," said Kathy Rieger. She says she had gone to a corner restaurant when she suddenly noticed something was going on. I talked to Kathy and a friend sitting outside a block away from the scene.
"She comes running home and puts the cheeseburgers here and telling me you know across the street from the restaurant is on fire. All the stores is getting on fire. I said calm down. She goes everything's on fire," said Kathy’s friend. Investigators say the fire reached four alarms. It took them three hours to get it under control.
“When they arrived they found heavy fire and smoke showing out of the first floor. The fire quickly extended up to the top floor of the building then started to move to the back left and right," said Philadelphia Fire Commissioner Adam Thiel. They were able to stop it from spreading about two-and-a half buildings down from where it started.
They spent hours after hosing hotspots. The building which was in the middle of the block had stores on the bottom floor and some residences on the above floors.
“We have had a couple of collapses out into the street so again very dangerous operation but incredible work to stop the fire from taking the entire block," said Commissioner Thiel.
A firefighter was taken to the hospital for heat exhaustion. At least six people were displaced. The cause of the fire is still under investigation
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