8 injured in 4-story blaze in Upper Darby
Dozens of residents, some stranded on balconies, were rescued from a fire in a 60-unit apartment building.
As flames shot from windows and thick, black smoke rendered hallways unnavigable yesterday morning, about 50 residents of a Delaware County apartment complex, some in wheelchairs, frantically waited on balconies to be rescued.
"It was one of our bad ones," James Johnson, deputy chief of the Upper Darby Township Fire Department, said of the three-alarm fire at the Merion Terrace apartments that left dozens of families homeless.
Nearly 90 firefighters rolled up on a "chaotic" scene shortly after 7:30 a.m., Johnson said.
Flames from an apartment on the third floor of B building had spread to adjacent units, he said, and to the fourth floor of the four-story building, which houses a total of 60 units. Heavy smoke poured from nearly 20 balconies, where the firefighters extended ladders to get to the trapped.
"We had a couple jump into a tree," Johnson said.
The fire - and the water used in the three-hour battle to put it out - left most of the B building apartments damaged. Thirty on the two upper floors are "totally unhabitable," Johnson said.
Remarkably, there were relatively few injuries.
In all, six residents and two firefighters were injured, Johnson said. A third firefighter went to the hospital with irregular vital signs but was released after being checked.
Last night, two residents remained hospitalized for smoke inhalation at the burn treatment center at Crozer-Chester Medical Center. Chiquita Moshor, 23, was in critical condition and Aaron Carter, 20, in good condition, a nursing supervisor at Crozer said.
The fire remained under investigation last night.
The complex, in the 7200 block of Merion Terrace near Keystone Avenue, has four four-story buildings, each with 60 apartments, Johnson said.
By yesterday afternoon, the Upper Darby No. 3 firehouse on West Chester Pike was doubling as a Red Cross shelter and processing station.
From there, tenants whose apartments sustained heavy smoke and fire damage were sent to local hotels and motels. Meanwhile, electricians worked throughout the day to restore power to first- and second-floor apartments so residents could return home.
Johnson said firefighters from Upper Darby and Havertown, aided by police, helped in what was a "very methodical rescue."