Joseph Hallman awoke to several loud popping sounds about 4:30 a.m. Tuesday. He thought they were gunshots. When he got up to go to the bathroom, he looked out his ninth-floor window in Chancellor Apartments in the Gayborhood and saw flames climbing near the front of his building.
A few moments later, the fire alarm began blaring and Hallman rushed down the stairs.
“I’ve lived in Philadelphia all my life and never experienced a fire in or next to a high rise,” he said. “That was fear-inducing. Just the sheer movement of hundreds of people being evacuated, I’d never experienced it.”
The Chancellor and Gramercy apartment buildings in the 200 block of South 13th Street were evacuated in the early morning hours of Sept. 15 after a three-alarm fire broke out at a nearby restaurant.
Officials believe the fire started at the former Letto Deli, 208 S. 13th St., which is under construction to become a French restaurant, Maison 208. The cause was still under investigation at presstime. No one was injured.
Firefighters spent over an hour battling the blaze, residents said.
Hallman said he and his neighbors from the 24-floor Chancellor gathered on the sidewalk outside the building for hours waiting for news. It was chilly and several people had left their apartments without shoes or shirts, he said.
Hallman said the Philadelphia Office of Emergency Management arrived about 7:30 a.m. to hand out blankets and other supplies. Emergency personnel later told residents of the first seven floors that they could not inhabit their apartments because of broken or melted windows, he said.
It’s unclear how many residents were displaced from the six-floor Gramercy building.
Woody’s bar opened around 9 a.m. and invited residents inside. Staff brought out bottles of water and let people use the bathroom. Hallman said the power was out at the bar, but it was still nice for everyone to have a place to sit and collect their thoughts.
Just before 11 a.m., Hallman was allowed to reenter his apartment for 15 minutes. He grabbed his laptop, phone charger and some clothes. The door to his apartment had been splintered with an axe, but otherwise there was no damage.
Hallman said he’s not sure when he’ll be able to return to his apartment. He said he was happy everyone was able to get out of the building unharmed, especially the older residents and those with disabilities.