Dozens of displaced residents stay in shelter after apartment building fire in West Philly

PHILADELPHIA - Several residents have been displaced after police say a fire occurred at Terrace Apartments near Spruce Hill. 

According to officials, police responded to a call for people trapped in the apartment building fire on the 4900 block of Spruce Street at around 4:38 p.m. 

Fire officials thoroughly searched the building and it is clear of residents. 

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Philadelphia police say at least 5 apartment units are uninhabitable. 

Displaced residents have access to Beulah Baptist Church at 5001 Spruce and Christy Recreation Center at 728 South 55th Street.

No injuries have been reported and the Red Cross has been notified. 

Multiple tenants claim there were issues with the fire alarms with the building and also claim there were numerous issues that caused them to form a tenant board

"Our digital problems were not getting solved so we decided that it might be more helpful if we formed a coalition which we did," said Veshonte Brown.

Brown says one of those problems was a fire alarm that would frequently sound off.

"Earlier in this year this apartment complex has an issue with false alarm fire alarms it would become multiple a week sometimes multiple a day, the most we ever had was four," she said. 

She claims that the property management company Altman, addressed the issues presence but the issue persisted.

"They told us very specifically that if you go into your bedroom the sound isn’t so loud and that kind of stuff."

She said many tenants believed Sunday’s incident was just another alarm issue.

"I kept thinking wow iota taking a really long time for them to turn it off usually it takes them around ten minutes and then I heard someone running down the hallway banging on peoples door saying its real its real and i dont even know who that is but, I thank them because the majority of people where able to get out before the smoke got too bad because of that person," she recalled. 

An update Monday revealed that the east side of the building was heavily damaged by the fire. 

Property Management was made aware of a list of items that need to be fixed before residents can return. 

Upon completion, officials say L&I inspectors will revisit it for another inspection. 

The Office of Emergency Management anticipates that the emergency shelter opened and managed by the Red Cross and OEM will remain open Monday night for displaced residents in need of temporary shelter as 26 people stayed at the shelter the night before.

Those staying at the shelter are being provided casework assistance, meals, access to showers, and a place to sleep.

"We are in the gymnasium at West Philly High School on cots and they're talking about two weeks before we can get back into our apartment," said Marcus Argo, Terrace Apartments Tenant