PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Residents in Society Hill were evacuated early Friday morning due to a carbon monoxide leak.
Dozens of firefighters and police officers, as well as PGW and PECO crews, arrived on the scene at the 500 block of Delancey Street around 5 a.m.
Carbon monoxide was detected in the basements of at least three homes. Nearly two dozen houses were evacuated.
Kasia Stein, who lives toward the middle of the block, said it all began with a flickering street light just after 3 a.m. “We lost power and then it came back, off and on again.”
Then, she heard a neighbor’s carbon monoxide alarm go off.
“Our neighbors across the street, their alarm company actually alerted the fire department to come check it out, and the fire department came and needed to check all the houses for readings,” she said.
Firefighters traced the high carbon monoxide readings to an underground electrical fire. PECO crews shut off power and began repairs.
Responding crews called in SEPTA buses to keep families warm but ended up not needing them, as residents sought shelter in unaffected neighbors' homes.
Residents were allowed back into their homes around 6:45 a.m. but were advised to keep their windows open. No one was injured.