Church Street Apartment Building Fire Injures One

A fire shortly after midnight injured one tenant and displaced several others.

Fire companies responded at 12:37 a.m. Thursday to an apartment fire at 223 Church St. When crews arrived on scene, smoke was billowing down the street from a third-floor apartment.

A woman was taken from the scene by ambulance and treated for minor injuries. The cause, according to Fire Chief Jim Gable, was smoking in bed. The Chester County Fire Marshal was on site to determine the cause.

Crews were able to contain the blaze to the third-floor bedroom, and all other tenants and several pets got out safely. A policeman knocked on the door of the attached building to alert residents.   

Red Cross volunteers, including neighbor Ronald Quay, were assisting tenants after the fire.

“We don’t usually get called to these things, but when you live down the road you’ve got to come out and see what you can do,” Quay said.

The displaced tenants from three apartments at 223 Church St. have other places to stay, Quay said. At least three dogs got out safely.

Neighbors peeked out windows and gathered on porches to watch the multiple fire companies on scene work. Along with Phoenixville Fire Department, firefighters from Kimberton, Black Rock Volunteer Fire Company, Valley Forge Fire Company and Friendship in Royersford responded, along with West End Ambulance, which transported the woman to Phoenixville Hospital.

The third-floor bedroom was destroyed and firefighters shoveled out debris, dumping it into a pile in a narrow alleyway between buildings. The second-floor apartment had some water damage and the residents there were allowed in to gather belongings. The first-floor was also uninhabitable immediately following the fire as PECO was on scene to disconnect the electric from the building.

The residents in the adjoining building at 225 Church St. were allowed to go back in and are able to stay in that building, as the fire was kept to the third-floor bedroom on the 223 Church St. side. 

At 1:36 a.m., the fire was placed under control.