PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A strong odor of smoke lingered in Philadelphia's Port Richmond hours after the Fire Department got a four-alarm fire under control at a vacant building on Monday morning. The fire and heavy smoke from the Sunday night blaze made visibility so bad that a section of I-95 was closed for a time.
Firefighters were on the scene at 6:30 a.m. Monday, about eight hours after they first responded, still blasting water onto a vacant three-story building near Tioga and Richmond streets. The fire, first reported around 10 p.m., has been under control for much of the morning, but firefighters want to make sure all remaining hotspots are put out.
At its peak Sunday night, the flames pouring out of the three-story former tire manufacturing plant were incredibly fierce and smoke filled the air, but on Monday, the highway was open for the morning commute.
Kathy Nulty, who lives nearby, said she woke to the sound of sirens. "You know, there's people that live around here that, it's devastating to them. It could be," she said.
No injuries were reported, and no nearby businesses were damaged. Workers who showed up for work Monday at those businesses were sent home for safety reasons and because power had been shut off to the area. Investigators are on the scene trying to determine the cause of the fire.
