Church fire in Philadelphia's Port Richmond section causes evacuations at nearby homes

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- A church in Philadelphia's Port Richmond neighborhood went up in flames early Friday morning, causing a roof to collapse and several homes to be evacuated.

Firefighters responded to the structure in the 2000 block of East Allegheny Avenue, near Emerald Street.

It quickly grew to a multi-alarm fire, taking crews about two hours to finally get things under control.

Four homes next to the building were evacuated due to collapses.

Police say the church has been vacant for several years

People nearby say they smelled smoke and ran outside to find the community church engulfed in flames.

The Red Cross is assisting the evacuated families.

The cause is under investigation.