Firefighters brought the fire under control at 6:12 a.m., though a heavy presence of firefighters and police remained eight hours later, ash falling onto police cruisers in the otherwise beautiful afternoon.
The Red Cross established a center for displaced residents at Northeast High School.
Roughly eight years ago, another large, five-alarm blaze took place at the complex, the fire spokesman said.
Naja Wigglesworth was on the second floor of the Austin Manor Apartment building in the Burholme neighborhood of Northeast Philadelphia when it went up in flames around 4:30 a.m. yesterday and was forced to escape through a window with her fiance and 3-year-old daughter.
“The fire alarm went on after I was already up,” said Wigglesworth, 23. “Sometimes people play with that alarm and it goes off for no reason. So I immediately tried to make contact with a neighbor.”
As smoke from the five-alarm blaze began streaming into her apartment, Wigglesworth’s fiance climbed out of their second-floor window and jumped down about 15 feet to a grassy patch with a sidewalk in the back of the building.
Wigglesworth said she then dangled her daughter down to him and then jumped herself, injuring her foot in the process.
“I am so thankful we’re all fine,” she said, adding that she planned to split her time between her mother’s and grandmother’s homes.
Nineteen victims and three firefighters were transported to hospitals and more than 30 people had to be evacuated, according to the fire department. Three were listed in critical condition.