Fire investigators remain on scene of massive warehouse fire in Marcus Hook

The blaze broke out in a vacant warehouse after 6 p.m. Monday night. More than 100 firefighters responded from Delaware, Chester and New Castle Counties.

DELAWARE COUNTY, Pa. - More than 24 hours after it started fire investigators were still on the scene of a massive warehouse fire in Marcus Hook, Delaware County.

The 4-alarm fire on the 200 block of East 10th Street was the third major warehouse fire in the area within the last week.

"There was all this smoke and it kept getting worse and worse," said a Marcus Hook resident who lives across the street from the latest fire.

The blaze broke out in a vacant warehouse after 6 p.m. Monday night. More than 100 firefighters responded from Delaware, Chester and New Castle Counties. They battled for more than seven hours before it was put under control. Residents who live just across the street from the quarter-million square foot beast say they’re lucky.

Fire investigators tell FOX 29 a group of four children were seen near the warehouse before the fire but haven’t said if they have anything to do with the cause.
But residents nearby say broken windows and graffiti on the buildings have been issues for years. Part of the building property is so neglected a tree is growing out of the roof.

"They should take it down. I mean it’s been abandoned. Kids playing in it," said Joe Kelly who lives down the street from the warehouse fire.

This was the third major warehouse fire in the area within the last week. Last Tuesday a 4-alarm fire broke out at the US Auto Auction building in Pennsauken, New Jersey. Another 4-alarm fire raged overnight Sunday inside an old tire manufacturing building in Port Richmond. Smoke from the fire closed down I-95 in both directions.

In the meantime, neighbors in Marcus Hook say a fire may be the best thing that’s happened to the eyesore next door.

"The building is a bit of an eyesore so I mean if I’m being a hundred percent honest I’d like the building to go away altogether," said Durham.

State fire marshals are investigating the cause for all three fires but they’re not believed to be connected.