Surveillance video shows moment fire erupts inside Frankford convenience store
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Surveillance video obtained by Action News shows the moment fire erupted inside a convenience store in Frankford early Monday morning.
Three men can be seen in the video running towards the building just before an explosion and racing away seconds later.
Members of the Philadelphia Arson and Explosives Task Force spent the day investigating the fire which broke out just before 3 a.m. on the 4400 block of Frankford Avenue.
Resident Alex Maldonado described the panic at his apartment building at the corner of Frankford and Sellers
"The neighbors were screaming up to us, 'The stores on fire! Get out of there.' The fire alarm is going off. It was just chaos," said Maldonado.
Maldonado was stunned after his wife told him what she saw.
"She looked out the window, and there were two gentlemen with their hoodies pulled real tight," recounted Maldonado. "There was another gentleman banging on the window of the convenience store downstairs. It appears they cut the locks off of the store because the gates were down."
Maldonado said, "They broke the window, and then they threw some type of fire object inside and ignited the store, and everything just went up so fast."
Resident Amro Alhoushayshi told 6abc, "When I walked downstairs, I couldn't even breathe. The smoke was all over the stairs."
Alhouhayshi had already called 911.
"I saw like three people wearing masks, and I was yelling at them, and I called 911," according to Alhouhayshi.
He continued, "One of them had something in his hand and started the fire and throw it inside the store, and they took off."
The corner building at Frankford and Sellers is three stories, with a convenience store on the first floor and apartments above.
The Red Cross is offering assistance to residents who can't return to their homes.
There were no injuries reported.
