1 dead as fires hit vacant warehouses

Firefighters braved subfreezing temperatures this morning to put out a 2-alarm blaze in an abandoned warehouse in Kensington, the second such fire in the city in less than 24 hours.

No injuries were reported in the fire in the two-story building on North America Street at West Cambria Street.

Fire investigators are trying to determine the cause of the blaze as well as another one Monday in another vacant warehouse where a man in his 70s was found dead.

Police said the victim of Monday's fire on the 1500 block of South 49th Street in Southwest Philadelphia was believed to be homeless and that the blaze may have spread from a fire set to keep warm. A second person escaped, police said.

This morning's fire was reported at 4:03 a.m. and quickly went to second alarm, officials said.

With temperatures hovering around 28 degrees and winds out of the west at 10 m.p.h., fire firefighter poured water on the blaze for over an hour before it was brought under control at 5:22 a.m., officials said.