Firefighter Injured, Residents Displaced by Domino Lane Apartment Fire

Forcing 150 hundred residents from their homes and injuring three—including a firefighter—a 3-alarm fire struck a Domino Lane apartment building early Saturday morning.

Responding to the apartment complex at 450 Domino Lane in Roxborough at 5:25 a.m., fire officials reported an escalating fire that engulfed half of the complex, according to Philadelphia Fire Department spokesperson Tom Honeyford.

As fire crews setup on Domino Lane, a male firefighter was struck by a responding ladder truck and sustained serious head injuries. Honeyford said he was transported to Albert Einstein Medical Center. As of 5:30 p.m. the firefighter was in critical but stable condition.

Two female residents also sustained injuries and were taken to Roxborough Memorial Hospital.

In coordination with the city's Office of Emergency Management, Salvation Army, and the American Red Cross 150 residents took refuge at Shawmont Elementary School throughout Saturday morning.

Abbey House is a multi-building complex, so not all residents were evacuated. According to Paul Jordan of the Salvation Army many families are being let back in to collect belongs and seek shelter with nearby families.

Others, like those from fire source Building H, will have to seek more permanent lodging as the structure sustained severe damage. American Red Cross Director of Disaster Services Clifton Salas said at 12:15 p.m., the shelter at Shawmont was closing,

"Every client is setup with either a family or friend to stay with, or the apartment complex is getting them into a new property," he said.

 The Shawmont shelter opened at 7 a.m. Salas said the attitude of displaced people was shocked but relieved.

"Most people were surprised as they were woken up by the fire. They grabbed what they could and got out," he said. "Despite some losing a lot, they were relieved as there were only minor injuries [to residents]." 

The American Red Cross provided financial assistance for clothing and food, he said.

Crews reported flames from the second and third stories of the U-shaped complex. The all-hands call was placed under control by 6:59 a.m., not before the building experienced severe damage.

Honeyford said the fire's cause remained under investigation. Access to Domino Lane from Ridge Avenue is restricted to local traffic.