A local LGBT bar and an LGBT-owned nonprofit provided relief services to residents displaced during an apartment-building fire in the Gayborhood this week.
Firefighters were on the scene around 7 p.m. Wednesday at the 132-unit Walnut Square Apartments, 201 S. 13th St., and placed the fire under control around 8:20 p.m. There were no injuries reported.
During the fire and for hours afterward, LGBT-related groups banded together to assist those in need.
Michael Weiss operates three LGBT bars in the Gayborhood: Rosewood, Woody’s and Voyeur. Woody’s, directly across from the building, was the only of his bars open during the time of the fire but Weiss and Woody’s management also opened up Rosewood for the building’s displaced residents.
“We did it because it was the right thing to do,” Weiss said. “We’ve been in the neighborhood since 1980 and we’re reactive as much as we can be to our neighbors. Whatever we can do to help them, we help them.”
J Nathan Bazzel, a member of the Mayfield Social Club, which owns Voyeur, spearheaded efforts at Rosewood. He added that Rosewood was in close proximity to the apartment building, making it easy for building management and emergency responders to connect with residents if necessary. Staff provided pizza and non-alcoholic beverages to more than 30 displaced individuals, Bazzel said.
“There was understandable distress but giving them some comfort and a place where they can just sit down and focus and get some much-needed information as it’s made available, that goes a long way to make people feel secure,” Bazzel said.
Bazzel commended the management at Woody’s and other community members for coming together.
“One of the great things about the community and [neighborhood] Washington Square West: We are a community and when something happens, we pull ourselves together and we try to support our neighbors and our fellow community members,” Bazzel said.
Rosewood also offered shelter for some residents’ pets while Red Paw Emergency Relief Team helped reunite them with owners. Four Red Paw team members, including founder and president Jen Leary, were on hand until 1 a.m. with pet owners. Leary, a lesbian, said the organization assisted 24 pets who were either rescued from the building or already evacuated with their owners.
A DOG AND ITS OWNER AT ROSEWOOD WEDNESDAY NIGHT
Leary noted that Red Paw representatives tapped into their experience to comfort distressed residents.
“They’re standing outside, waiting for news that their pet is OK and so we’re just trying to reassure them that the pets inside those apartments were fine,” Leary said, noting that most damage occurred on the second and third floors of the building. “There wasn’t a lot of fire, smoke or water damage outside of the contained area. But I think people who don’t experience fires a lot, they saw all of that black smoke and thought something horrible had happened to their pet.”
Additionally, Red Paw provided pet carriers and food for residents who needed them. Leary said the organization also provided emergency shelter for one displaced resident’s pets since the owner’s hotel for the evening was not pet-friendly.
Leary noted that different city departments worked together to coordinate efforts and said police officers, the fire department, the Department of Licenses and Inspections and building management facilitated what could have been a complicated process.
“I think Philadelphia is one of the best cities in the country for the way that the first responders and the emergency response partners work together on scene,” Leary said. “Everything went flawlessly.”