House fire, partial collapse in Port Richmond section of Philadelphia

PORT RICHMOND (WPVI) -- Firefighters battled a house fire and partial collapse in the Port Richmond section of Philadelphia.

The fire erupted Monday morning around 5:30 a.m. in the 1800 block of East Monmouth Street.

Cellphone video recorded by neighbors shows the heavy flames pouring from the windows.

Neighbors say the house was under renovation and was supposed to be vacant. They say one man jumped out of a first floor window and there may have been additional people inside.

"They had no business in there," one neighbor told Action News. She continued, "He lay flat out. He was on fire some. Someone came out the house. Somebody stomped the fire out of him."

The flames were already heavy when firefighters arrived. Part of the row home where the fire began collapsed, bricks spilled out into the street. The fire damaged the row homes on either side.

Jeremiah Thompson lives nearby with his family.

"It literally exploded this morning. My whole bedroom shook. Woke me up," Thompson explained. "By the time I went and got my daughter, we couldn't hardly get out of the house because of all the smoke and fire that was coming from the house next door," he added.

Thompson can't believe the damage. His family recently moved in.

"No one can live there. My front wall about to come down on my house!" he exclaimed.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.