A fire overnight burned through a historic church in the Kensington section of the city. NBC10’s Miguel Martinez-Valle reports.
It took around 100 firefighters to battle a fire that burst out at a historic church in Philadelphia's Kensington neighborhood early Friday morning.
Firefighters were first called to the burning church along the 2000 block of East Allegheny Avenue, near Emerald Street, around 12:45 a.m. on Friday, March 28, 2025, Deputy Philadelphia Fire Chief Thomas Gallagher said.
A third alarm was struck as firefighters battled the flames in the church -- which was constructed mostly of wood in 1884 -- quickly intensified, Gallagher said.
"When these churches were built... they used large amounts of wood -- so what you have is an interior lumber fire," Gallagher said.
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The fire spread through the walls and caused the roof to collapse, firefighters said.
"Multiple alarms were struck to develop water supply in order to extinguish the fire and prevent it from extending to the attached dwellings," Gallagher said.
The stone façade of the church partially collapsed as firefighters continued to pour water onto it, worried about further collapse. You could see stones falling down.
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Mother Nature could have made it worse.
"We're fortunate tonight there's little to no wind at all," Gallagher said.
It took around two hours for nearly 100 firefighters -- using nearly three dozen apparatus -- to get the blaze under control.
The fire was contained only to the historic church and nobody was hurt, Gallagher said.
People were evacuated from around four nearby properties, including a small nursing home. The American Red Cross was helping several people displaced by the fire.
People stood by and watched as firefighters battled the flames at the building that said East Allegheny Avenue Methodist - Episcopal Church on the sign, but now appears to go by the name of the Radical Church of Philadelphia.
“I’m lost for words right now,” said Lamar Sanchez – who says he’s been to the church before and was making a song in a nearby studio when the blaze broke out. “God, this is a tragedy right now.”
"This is something I'm kind of confused about right now," Sanchez said while trying to come to grips with a place of worship burning down. "I'm very lost for words right now."
Later in the morning, some construction equipment was bought in to address the instability of the structure. By late morning, the structure was being torn down.
Expect Allegheny Avenue to be blocked during the day as crews continue to work.
The cause of the fire remained under investigation.
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