PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Fire officials have determined that problems with the electrical wiring led to the fire Friday at Jim’s Steaks on South Street. The longtime owner of the popular cheesesteak shop is promising to rebuild.
Wearing a yellow hard hat, owner Ken Silver watched work crews clear away piles of charred debris Monday morning from Jim's South Street, now boarded up. Shattered glass, broken fixtures and spoiled steak rolls all went into a truck to be hauled away.
City inspectors say the building is still structurally sound, and Silver says his goal of getting Jim’s back up and running has not changed — but it may take some time.
“It’s an electrical fire, so there’s a lot of inspectors and a lot of people are gonna have to come in here and make sure that everything is done by the book and that you cross your T’s and dot your I’s,’” Silver said. “But we plan to reopen as soon as we can get to work on renovations.”
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Silver said his team of 33 employees, all out of a job, are facing a lot of uncertainty.
“Nobody got hurt, so that’s the most important thing,” he said. “When you lose your business and livelihood it’s tough on everybody but they’re holding up as best I can tell.”
He says they can afford to pay their workers only for a brief time, so they set up an online fundraiser.
In the short-term, Silver said Jim’s may keep cooking up steaks at pop-ups in various locations, but there is a lot that needs to be sorted out first.
“We’ve gotten lots of outreach from the city and other cheesesteak shops and things like that,” he said.
Through it all, Silver said, the show of support from people, not just in Philly, but around the country and beyond, has taken the sting out a little.
“It’s just nice to know we’re important to folks and important to Philly.”