Suspicious fire damages 12 homes, displaces residents in Cobbs Creek

COBBS CREEK (WPVI) -- Fire officials are calling an early Saturday morning blaze in Philadelphia's Cobbs Creek neighborhood suspicious.

The fire started after 1 a.m. on the front porch of a home on the 5800 block of Larchwood Avenue.

Firefighters say the blaze started on a porch, and quickly spread.

"Fire was coming down the porches behind me," said Troy Reid of Cobbs Creek.

Reid says he was tending to his 1-week-old son when a glow across the street caught his eye.

"I ran outside and just started banging on doors, yelling for people to get out the house," said Reid.

About a dozen homes were damaged, either by flames or smoke and water.

"They said they're going to have to take the whole roof down, they're going to have to tear up the porch, they're going to have to tear up my living room and dining room ceilings," said Michaele Brown of Cobbs Creek.

Around the corner, a white pickup truck sits totaled.

Janis Carter says her husband's truck was burned overnight around the same time as the houses.

The fire marshal is now investigating to see if the truck fire, the homes and a few rubbish fires at 59th and Larchwood are all connected.

"They were out here investigating last night. They were asking questions, does he know who did it or whatever," said Carter. "He didn't know anything because he wasn't home."

People who grew up on the block say it's heartbreaking to see so many homes affected.

"To actually see the house where I was born burnt like this, it hurts me to my heart," said Angelina Rembert of Northeast Philadelphia.

While no residents were hurt, a firefighter was treated on the scene for heat exhaustion.

Nine residents are being assisted by the Red Cross.