Concerns Arise Following Old City Fire
By Hadas Kuznits
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - In the aftermath of Wednesday morning's fire at the Suit Corner on 3rd and Market Streets in Old City (see related story), many questions and concerns have developed.
With the fire still fresh on people's minds, City Councilman Mark Squilla is wondering why renovations on the fire house at 4th and Arch Streets haven't yet begun.
"We have fire houses strategically located in specific areas for a reason," he said. "To have them closed or browned out for whatever reason, to me, always causes a concern."
But Fire commissioner Lloyd Ayers says the renovations aren't small:
"The engineers go in and they look at what it's going to cost and what additions need to be made to bring it up to current day code. So that's been part of the holdup."
Meanwhile, folks in Old City can't help but comment on the destruction of the iconic Suit Corner building:
"I mean this just looks like a war zone. It's just crazy."
"This has been here forever. It's just interesting now that these two corners have nothing on them, it's very strange looking."
And stranger still...
"The sign is still there. It didn't even touch the sign!"
Some neighbors say Old City is vulnerable:
"And I just think that's the nature of the deteriorating buildings; old buildings, old timber."
"I just feel bad for a lot of these restaurants and businesses that are really gonna get hurt for the next couple of weeks until they clean up this mess."
And then there's the traffic issue:
"It's just another reason to dig up 3rd Street. They do it every six months whether they need to or not and we're back to it again."
