Officials: 3-alarm fire tears through Philadelphia catholic school
PHILADELPHIA - Firefighters battled a three-alarm blaze that tore through a Philadelphia catholic school Tuesday afternoon.
Crews were called to Our Mother of Consolation Parish School near the intersection of Germantown and Chestnut Hill avenues just before 4 p.m.
The Philadelphia Fire Department said 39 students who were involved in an after school program were safely evacuated during the fire.
A firefighter sustained minor injuries and was taken to a local hospital for treatment, according to officials.
A spokesperson for the department said the building sustained heavy damage to the entirety of the second floor and roof.
Local and federal investigators will work to determine what sparked the inferno.
The Philadelphia Fire Marshal's Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) remained at the school on Thursday. Students, families and faculty members visited the charred building from behind yellow police tape.
Ezra Sileshi, a 14-year-old 8th grade student who is set to graduate in June, told FOX 29's Jennifer Lee that the fire damaged his math and religion classrooms.
"It’s crazy because I was there like 45 minutes before, and the next thing I know I see on my phone it’s on fire," Sileshi said.
Sileshi’s older brother graduated from OMC two years ago.
"I tell you, we come from South Philly, we don’t even live around here. I drive here every day to bring my kids. Both of them," Firew Sileshi said. "It makes me feel bad. I’m almost like crying. It’s a small community. Everybody knows each other, and I never thought that would happen to the school."
Samantha and Gianna Colti are sisters who graduated from OMC. Samantha graduated in 2009 and Gianna graduated in 2017.
"Yesterday we actually came up as they were still putting out the fire and we ran into my 7th grade teacher out here. It was really sad watching him, and I was just kind of watching the building go down," Samantha said. "Me and my sister actually came back a few months ago to visit, and you know, it felt like home there. There were still pictures of me up on the wall from back when I was in school."
"I just hope all the kids get to stay together and they find a place for them. Everyone knows all the teachers and the priest and it’s really so sad. I hope everything works out for them," Gianna said. "I really hope they can restore this building and have the same community that I grew up with, [my sister] grew up with that everyone here has."
Fr. John Fisher said the outpouring of support has been tremendous. He said the plan is to go back to in-person learning and a team from the school was scouting potential locations on Thursday.
"Different priests from the archdiocese, all headmasters of different schools that are catholic and non-catholic, Saint Paul’s, Chestnut Hill all offering space, and we got to figure all that out right now," Fisher said. "We got to work that out. We can’t rush and do it haphazardly. We’re taking our time, but we intend to be back in instruction in other classrooms."