Fire in renovated North Philly apartment building forces neighbors to evacuate

Philly firefighters still on scene hosing down hotspots at a vacant, 4-story apartment building at 1600 West Oxford Street in North Philadelphia.
Photo credit Mark Abrams/KYW Newsradio

PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Firefighters are trying to figure out what caused a multi-alarm fire Monday night in a vacant apartment building in North Philadelphia. 

The fire was reported shortly after 8:30 p.m. inside a four-story apartment building under renovation in the 1600 block of West Oxford Street. Within an hour, the fire had become so intense that several neighbors were evacuated from homes and apartments. 

One of those who got the order to leave is Keesha, who lives right across the street.

"Started from a real small fire," she said. "And the next thing you know, the top of the roof was on fire and they were banging on the doors telling everybody they had to evacuate."

The fire also resulted in a power outage affecting several blocks around the scene.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.