Apartment fire just off City Avenue

A fire broke out Wednesday night at the Lincoln Green apartment complex in the 4000 block of Presidential Boulevard in the River Park neighborhood on the edge of Philadelphia.

Flames poured out the three-story structure, located near the intersection of City Avenue and the Schuylkill Expressway.

Deputy Fire Chief Michael Wahl said one occupant was rescued by firefighters and transported to an area hospital for observation.

Wahl said the fire was first reported to police at 8:41 p.m. Responding firefighters found heavy fire in second and third floor apartments. The fire was declared under control at 9:34 p.m.

No firefighters were injured, though at one point they evacuated the building as a precaution, then reentered to continue fighting the blaze.

Beverly Brown, 47, who lives two units away from where the fire started, said she was at home when "all of a sudden I hear banging on my door."

She went to her balcony and saw flames shooting out from the middle of her building.

"I grabbed my pets. I grabbed my purse and ran out the door," she said, referring to her 22-year-old tropical bird, TJ, and her six-foot-long iguana, Digga.

She and some other residents complained that they did not hear a fire alarm.

"If it wasn't for the neighbors banging on the door, I don't think I would've got out," she said.