Two Northeast apartment
complexes go up in flames

By William Kenny
Times Staff Writer

Aug. 1 was a busy day for Northeast Philadelphia firefighters.
Separate blazes barely 10 minutes apart gutted portions of two local apartment complexes that afternoon. Working alarms in each building helped prevent fatalities, but two civilians and three firefighters were hospitalized for smoke inhalation.
Investigators have blamed faulty wiring for both fires, including a four-alarm blaze at the Beechwood Garden Apartments, 9811 Haldeman Ave., and a one-alarmer at the Townhomes of Regency Place, 3501 Woodhaven Road.
Firefighters were called to the Haldeman Avenue complex at 12:20 p.m. and saw flames spreading quickly through the roof of the three-story, 20-unit building, said executive chief Daniel Williams, the fire department spokesman.
In all, 33 fire trucks and 125 firefighters battled the blaze for 80 minutes before it was declared under control.
Flames heavily damaged seven apartments, while others in the building sustained smoke and water damage. Residents of all 20 units were displaced and offered shelter at the Anne Frank School by the American Red Cross.
Paramedics took one man and one woman, as well as one firefighter, to Jeanes Hospital for treatment.
A fire report cited by Williams did not state how many people were inside the building when the fire broke out on the third floor near the west end of the structure. An internal alarm prompted many to flee before firefighters arrived.
Colleen Meyer was preparing to leave her first-floor apartment for work at a local hospital when other residents alerted her to the fire.
At first, Meyer said, she heard muffled banging on a door. But when she went to a common entrance, nobody was there.
"I thought they were doing construction work, so I went back to getting ready for work," she said.
Moments later, there was louder banging and someone screamed "fire, fire."
Meyer ran down the hall to help an elderly woman escape the building.
"She lives alone," Meyer said of her neighbor.
As Meyer and her roommate, Keith Baldwin, stood on Haldeman Avenue after the fire watching firefighters spray water on the hot coals, they pondered the fate of their two cats, who were last seen in a bedroom.
"It’s just our cats. That’s all we’re worried about," Meyer said.
"We’re just in shock," said Baldwin, who rushed home from work at a local pizzeria.
James Allen, who lives in another building in the same complex, shot a video of the early stages of the blaze with his camera phone. The clips show flames shooting from third floor windows near the origin of the fire.
"I smelled something burning and thought it was a car fire," Allen said. "Then before you know it, it was going all across the roof."
"I came out and watched it. In twenty minutes, it went up," said Nick Fitzgerald, who lives in a neighboring building. "The firefighters started venting the roof with axes and picks, then the horn went off and they got out."
According to Williams, firefighters were forced off the roof when it became structurally unsafe.
A second blaze broke out about three miles away, at Woodhaven and Academy roads, at 1:52 p.m., 12 minutes after firefighters declared the first one under control.
The fire ignited in the first-floor ceiling of a two-story townhouse and spread to the second floor, Williams said.
Three residents were put out of their homes, but working smoke alarms again helped prevent fatalities.
Two firefighters were taken to Jeanes Hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation, Williams said.
Both fires were ruled accidental. ••
Reporter William Kenny can be reached at 215-354-3031 or bkenny@phillynews.com