'I need a place to live': Over 100 residents displaced after fire at Philadelphia apartment complex
"I need a place to live, I need a roof over my head. I'm sad. I don't want to be homeless," one resident said.
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- More than 100 residents were displaced after a fire broke out in a West Philadelphia apartment complex on Sunday.
It happened at approximately 4:30 p.m. at a building on the 4900 block of Spruce Street.
At the scene, firefighters saw heavy smoke billowing from the roof. Cell phone video shows flames bursting from one apartment unit.
Emergency crews evacuated the building and over 100 residents were forced to leave. They have now all been displaced.
Authorities say no injuries were reported as a result of the blaze.
Action News spoke with some of the residents of the building, who said the situation was unbelievable.
"I woke up, the fire alarm was going off. I looked out the windows then somebody hit my door and said 'Get up,'" recalled resident Leon Lindsay. "Thank God I'm alive."
Lindsay and other residents described what the fire was like from inside the building.
"So much smoke, water was coming out the ceiling, I was choking," he said.
"You open the door and you see pitch black and smoke, and yeah, I had to close my door and grab my kids. It was scary, I'm not gonna lie, I've never seen anything like that," added Michael Prater.
Prater said he and several others struggled with the heat of the fire when trying to escape the apartment complex.
"It was like heat, you could feel the heat, you know, cause where the fire was coming from. It was coming from the second to the third. So we made it all the way to the other side and made it out the back door," he noted.
Firefighters could be seen carrying out residents' pets from the burning building.
Now, many are wondering what happens next.
"I need a place to live, I need a roof over my head. I'm sad. I don't want to be homeless," said Lindsay.
Displaced residents have access to Beulah Baptist Church for resources, which is located at 5001 Spruce Street.
The Christy Recreation Center is also available for residents at 728 South 55th Street.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
