2 alarm fire burning through Old City building

OLD CITY (WPVI) -- Hours after it began this morning, firefighter continue to pour thousands upon thousands of gallons of water onto a landmark building in Old City in attempt to douse the flames that persist, and stop the smoldering that has continued throughout the day.

The smoky, fast-moving fire broke out just after 9:00 a.m. and quickly went to two alarms.

The landmark building could be up to 200 years-old. The Suit Corner business has operated there for 60 years, according to the owners.

Jerry Ginsberg owns the building and his son runs the business. Ginsberg says his son told him that the fire erupted as they prepared to open for the day.

Ginsberg and a half dozen employees tried to put the fire out, but eventually had to flee for their lives.

Bob Inamdar operated the newsstand on the same corner. He soon had to scramble to safety this morning with the others.

Inamdar tells Action News, "I came out and I look at it. I see the flame coming out from the store. I say, 'What happened?' He said, 'It caught on fire.' And I say, 'Oh my God.' And then I just went back in, collect all my stuff, lock the door and get out."

The fire department says they were on the scene three minutes after they got the first call and had it under control within 90 minutes. At a critical point they shut down the water and let the roofs collapse so they could see inside to zero in on where the hot spots persisted.

Fire Department Deputy Chief Eric Fleming explained what was fueling the fire, saying, "We have no idea, besides the combustibles inside the retail store, and they might have had some storage in another portion of the building. So just the combustibles in the store."

Ben Cross lives in a next door apartment. He says, "All I know is they keep a lot of stuff in that [Suit] Corner. A lot, a lot... a lot of stuff."

One firefighter was hospitalized today for treatment of a leg injury he sustained after falling off a piece of equipment at the scene.

Neighborhood Impact

This fire is across the street from the old Shirt Corner building, which collapsed while under demolition back in mid-March.

It's been a difficult day - a difficult month - for this Old City neighborhood, and now this one corner is forever transformed.

Smoke filled the air all afternoon along Market Street between 2nd and 4th streets as the fire continued to burn at the Suit Corner store. Some of the smoke billowed right into businesses on the block.

Tom Pelkowski from SOHO PIZZA says, "One minute it's nothing - no smoke at all. The next minute you see a big billowing cloud coming down the street."

Market Street stayed shut down with no buses running along the blocks near the fire - from the moment firefighters responded right through the afternoon. For the owners of nearby stores, that meant the customers just weren't coming.

Coffee shop owner Shoyena Adiba said it's, "Terrible. I mean the whole area's been closed. Nobody could get through. 2nd Street is closed. 3rd and 4th are closed. Nothing."

It's been a rough month on this block. On March 13th, while the Shirt Corner store was being demolished, a large section came down with a crash - sending dust and debris into the street.

Michael O'Halloran owns the restaurant next door to that sight. He was forced to shut down then, and doesn't know if he can open his restaurant tonight since the smoke from the Suit Corner just keeps coming.

"It was like this but faster. So the demolition took moments and then they cleared it up, and then they were gone. And then this - I can't believe how long it's going," O'Halloran said.

There are still a large number of streets closed due to the fire, affecting SEPTA bus routes that run through the area. Service on routes 17, 21, 33, 42, 48 is now terminating at 5th and Market streets; route 5 is terminating at 2nd and Arch; and service on route 57 is being detoured.

For the latest on SEPTA's service visit septa.org.