'The biggest fire I've ever seen': Massive 6-alarm blaze burns former furniture factory in Allentown
Some residents have been asked to evacuate
ALLENTOWN, Pa. (WPVI) -- A former furniture factory is now a shell after a massive 6-alarm blaze burned through the commercial building in Allentown on Wednesday night.
Eight homes across the street were also damaged by the fire. Six homes were destroyed and deemed uninhabitable, while two others sustained damage. Seven families were displaced.
"There were flames coming out of every space available in this building," said Chief Efrain Agosto, Jr., with the Allentown Fire Department. "This is probably the largest fire that I've been a part of."
The blaze broke out around 8:45 p.m. in the 300 block of North Front Street.
Chopper 6 video showed heavy flames engulfing the structure, which sustained significant damage. Portions of the roof and interior floors have collapsed.
Authorities urged residents on the 300 block of North Front Street to evacuate through the rear of their homes, since it was too dangerous out front. Residents in surrounding areas were advised to shelter in place until further notice.
"It started messing up how we had to breathe and everything, so we definitely just left right away," resident Damian Velez said.
Demolition crews began tearing down what remained of the building Thursday afternoon as firefighters sprayed water into the debris to extinguish stubborn pockets of fire.
"You can see the smoke is still there, so there's active fire going on in the basement level of this," Agosto, Jr., said.
Officials said the intense radiant heat, rather than flames, caused the fire to spread to the homes.
"It wasn't so much the flames that jumped over as much as it was radiant heat; it was that hot," Agosto said. "The heat itself just basically took over."
One firefighter suffered a minor injury while battling the blaze.
"The biggest fire I've ever seen in my entire life. It was insane. It was hot -- smoke everywhere," said Shawn Sell. "I got text messages from friends 30 miles away, asking me if I was ok. And they saw the big plumes of smoke."
Jonathan Shehab said his aunt lost her home in the fire, but was at work when it began.
"She was not home, thank God, she was actually at work," Shehab said.
"She's doing as good as can be. She's in good spirits because she has love and support, but she is devastated with just how catastrophic the damage was from something like this," he said. "From what we've seen, it's in rough shape and probably not much more salvageable."
Shehab described watching the fire as surreal.
"It's just like something out of a movie. It was completely insane to see," he said. "You could literally feel the heat."
Firefighters remained on scene throughout the day as demolition crews made progress on knocking down the building.
"You can see the smoke is still there, so there's active fire going on in the basement level of this. As the demolition crew starts tearing everything down and starts pulling debris out, we're gonna continue to hit it with water as much as we can till we put it out," Agosto said.
The fire chief said investigators, including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, are working to determine what sparked the blaze, though the cause may never be known because of the extensive damage.
"Typically, when we do an investigation, we go to where the point of origin is. How do you determine that in this building? At this point, it's a matter of just we have to take a look at what's safe enough to get to and if we can't get close enough to anywhere we're not gonna get there," Agosto said.
The building was the former American Atelier furniture factory, which has since moved to another location.
Action News has learned that a developer received approval last year to demolish the building and put up a 16-story mixed-use building, featuring apartments and retail space. It's unclear what's next for those plans.
Officials said those displaced can seek shelter at Resurrected Life Church at 620 W. Hamilton Street.
Several road closures remain in effect as emergency crews continue to work in the area.
At one point, more than 2,000 PPL customers were without power due to the fire. Power has since started to come back on but there are still some outages.
