Authorities went door-to-door in a North Philadelphia neighborhood early Friday morning as more than 100 firefighters battled a blaze that broke out in a warehouse overnight before spreading to adjacent properties.
One person was on fire when they ran from the vacant commercial building on the 2400 block of American Street in the city's West Kensington section, where the blaze broke out around 2:30 a.m., according to officials.
The victim, who had burns over 80 percent of his body, was rushed to a Temple University Hospital, according to authorities. He remains in critical condition after suffering both second- and third-degree burns, authorities said.
Two firefighters also suffered minor injuries in the blaze, which crews got under control at 4:11 a.m., according to Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small. But smoke was still billowing from the building more than 45 minutes later.
Police officers knocked on doors to alert residents of the heavy smoke and flames, which jumped to nearby utility poles and caused a transformer to explode.
The fire started in the vacant property, located on American Street between Cumberland and York streets, before spreading to a neighboring building that houses a paper company, which is in operation, according to officials.
"When you have that large amount of fuel load," said Philadelphia Fire Commissioner Derrick Sawyer, "chances are we didn't save the paper company."
Portions of the vacant warehouse collapsed shortly after 3 a.m. as flames continued to rip through the property.
"When you have an older building and heavy fire load, you have greater chance of collapse," Sawyer explained. "We established collapse zone early.'
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More than 120 firefighters using at least 33 pieces of equipment worked for 80 minutes to contain the fire, Sawyer said.
"Right now the cause of the fire is undetermined," Sawyer said. "We have the Fire Marshall out, we have PECO, L & I [are] all part of the investigation."
Authorities shut down both York and American streets to traffic as officials monitored the situation.
Stay with NBC10 for more on this developing story.
