Firefighters battle two-alarm blaze at Philadelphia pharmacy, laundromat
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Firefighters battled a two-alarm blaze in the Juniata section of Philadelphia on Tuesday afternoon.
Firefighters responded around 4:15 p.m. to Castor and Erie avenues.
Chopper 6 was over the scene where the flames were raging out of control from a pharmacy and laundromat.
Officials say the fire was placed under control just before 5 p.m.
The fire department says it's too early to tell what worked the flames.
Jeyca Ocasio was in the laundromat as things unfolded. She says she heard an explosion from the roof.
"Something dropped through the roof and up in flames it went. Everyone got out," she said.
Ocasio is just one of many employees who work inside the laundromat who say they heard the explosion.
Next, they say something fell through the ceiling and went up in flames.
Luckily, they got out before things escalated. No injuries have been reported.
"Everybody got out safely and that's the best thing. That's just material stuff in there," said Maria Gomez.
"My initial response would be to direct all our patients to our other location where their medications will be. There will be nobody having to wonder whether they can receive their medication," said Sabri Ibrahim, the owner of Pharmacy of America.
Commissioner Adam Thiel says he's proud of the response time and happy to report no firefighters were injured battling the flames. They had to do so in the oppressive heat Tuesday.
"It's tough to do that. The gear doesn't breath. So it gets pretty hot quickly," said Thiel.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
