Cold hampers efforts after Kensington fire

One day after a fire destroyed a Kensington warehouse and displaced 20 people, a cold snap combined with water from fire hoses turned a block of Front Street into a wintry menace.

On an ice-slick street, firefighters continued their investigation of the massive fire that shut off electrical power to scores of customers and disrupted the Market-Frankford El. Ice covered buildings, hung from power lines, and made the ground dangerously slick. Daggerlike icicles threatened to fall from the El.

"Everything is more hazardous when it's cold," said Fire Chief Vince Mulray, standing outside the frosty hulk of FixtureOne at 1338 N. Front St. The fire, which began about 4:25 p.m. Sunday, climbed to six alarms before it was declared under control about three hours later. Fire officials said the investigation was continuing.

In an adjoining backyard yesterday, a rescue ladder was frozen to the side of the burned-out building. The yard itself was blanketed with ice.

At least 20 people were forced from their homes on Front and Hope Streets and an unknown number were unable to show up for work after a six-alarm fire ravaged the warehouse Sunday afternoon. Peco Energy shut off power to scores of customers, and El service was disrupted.

A Red Cross spokesman said families from three of the four houses that were evacuated were staying with friends or relatives. There was no information on the occupants of the fourth home.

John Grone, who fled his rowhouse on the 1300 block of Hope Street, returned yesterday morning to find that his two pythons had not survived.

"They're gone. They're dead. They froze to death," said Grone, who was allowed in to rescue the animals he had left behind. In addition to the pythons, two rottweilers, Jasmine and Bucca, were in the house, along with an unnamed turtle.

A firefighter carried Jasmine from the house because of her age, about 15, but Bucca exited on a leash. The turtle remained because workers would not let Grone go upstairs to get it.

Grone, who lives with his parents, two brothers and a sister, said the family members bolted as soon as they saw flames at the warehouse. Flammables are kept in the warehouse, across the alleyway that runs behind their row, he said.

The Grones, who were staying with relatives nearby, were among the eight customers who remained without power yesterday.

Power has been restored to the majority of the more than 100 Peco customers affected, spokesman Michael Wood said. Power was shut off to six customers Sunday night, then to an additional 97 yesterday morning because of a damaged power pole. The pole most likely was struck by an emergency vehicle or sprayed with water that then froze on it, Wood said.

The power will be restored once the Fire Department deems it safe to do so, Wood said.

As for Grone, he was mourning at least one python, Arthur, which measured three to four feet, and which he had hand-fed as a baby.

"It's going to be hard," he said.

As for the other python, she won't be missed so much.

"I named her a curse word because she snapped at me," Grone said.

About 160 firefighters responded to the blaze, placing it under control about 7:30 p.m., said Fire Commissioner Lloyd Ayers. No injuries were reported.

Ayers said FixtureOne - a marketer of store fixtures, cabinets and showcases - had a three-story building, a four-story building and a one-story addition, on the south side.

"It was like a lumberyard in there," said Ayers, who joined Mayor Nutter at the scene. "Furnishings, display cases, lots of wood. . . . It made for a hot fire."

Ron Dascenzo of FixtureOne declined to comment yesterday.

Nutter, who visited the site yesterday, said it was too early to say when the evacuees would be able to return home.

SEPTA bused El passengers between the Spring Garden and Berks stations yesterday, and hoped to reopen the closed section of track by today's rush, spokesman Felipe Suarez said.

"We got a break as far as ridership and inconveniencing our regular passengers," he said, noting that yesterday was a holiday.

One wall, near the El, is being taken down by hand to avoid a collapse onto the tracks, Nutter and Ayers said.

"Once we get that wall down, we're going to make another assessment," said Ayers, adding that it was likely the entire business property would need to be razed.

It was unknown how many people worked at the site, but Ayers said a shift had worked Sunday.

"There's going to be a lot of folks affected, jobs, livelihoods," Ayers said. "People want to come to work. They need to get a paycheck."

Mulray said firefighters would be on the scene for several more days, their cleanup efforts hampered by the cold.

"Things don't work; the guys have to walk slower," he said. "If it was 70 and sunny, we'd be out of here by now."