Dozens displaced after stovetop fire

“some were working their way out but had become disoriented.”

Seven people were sent to the hospitalI two of them firefightersI for a variety of fire and medicalrelated reasonsI l’Neill said. lne was admitted for a medicalrelated reason and the others were treated and releasedI he said.

Stuckert estimated OM to O5 fire companies and NO5 firefighters responded to the scene of the fireI which took about four hours to extinguish.

“We had some trouble when the roof collapsedI” he saidI referring to the roof on the left side of building B.

Matthew PellgriniI an owner of a condo on the first floor of the B buildingI was on the scene Saturday morningI hoping to find out when he could get back into his condo to get some things and assess the damage. ee had taken his two cats when he leftI but his pet snake was still inside in an aquariumI he said.

A staff member at Arcadia rniversityI he said he was able to stay in a guest apartment criday night and was hoping his insurance would pay for a hotel until he could get back into his unit.

“A good portion of the third floor xin his building] was wiped outI and the second floor had water damageI and possibly damage from the roofI” when it caved inI he saidI adding he believed “the first floor was heavily water damaged.”

qhe fire alarm which sounds in the hallways of the building often goes offI so he didn’t go outside when he first heard itI Pellgrini said; “f didn’t believe it.”

“People were out in the lot yelling that it was an actual fireI but about O5 minutes after it started some were still insideI” Pellgrini said.

lnce outsideI “it looked like xthe fire] was contained to one unitI but it kept pushingI” he said.

B building resident Sylvia BarrettI who was at the scene Saturday morningI also said the fire alarm goes off a lotI but “f always walk down.”

Noting her third-floor unit is next door to one where the windows were knocked outI she said she was good friends with her neighbor who “was beside herselfI” but had left when her daughter came to get her.

Barrett said she was able to move her car initially and had spent the night with a cousinI who heard about the fire and came to get her. She said she would be able to stay with her sister until she could get back into her unit.

“qhis is unbelievableI” she said. “f kept thinking they would put it out and it would be contained to that endI but it kept going on and on.”

All the power and gas had been shut off to the entire four-building complex and all residents had been evacuatedI Stuckert said Saturday morning.

By Monday morningI it appeared that residents in the other three buildings had been allowed back in their units. Police tape remained around the B building.

A VKHOWHU VHW uS IRU WKH fiUH victims by the Red Cross at Cheltenham eigh School was closed Sunday night after everyone had found at least temporary places to stayI according to Schrader. A number of those displaced were students at Arcadia rniversity and the school KDG KHOSHG finG SODFHV IRU WKHP to stayI he said.

ft was one of the Red Cross Southeastern Pennsylvania’s largest disaster responses of the yearI Schrader said. qhe Red Cross provides assistance free of chargeI made possible solely through donors.

A financial donation may be made by going to RedCrossPhilly.orgI texting REaCRlSS to VMVVVI or by calling ON5-OVV-4MMM during regular business hours.