By Laurie Mason Schroeder, Morning Call staff
The Morning Call
ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Firefighters continue to battle a massive blaze at a vacant factory near the Allentown riverfront into early Thursday morning.
The fire broke out at the former American Atelier furniture factory at 249 N. Front Street, in the area of Gordon Street, around 8:40 p.m. Wednesday and has since gone to six alarms. Riverside Drive runs along the back of the property.
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The blaze sent a plume of thick black smoke into the air, which was captured in photos taken from miles away.
Allentown police and fire officials are requesting residents who live in that general area to shelter in place due to the heavy smoke. Residents who live on the 300 block of Front Street were asked to evacuate by exiting through their backyards, according to a message from fire Capt. Joshua Brubaker.
The fire spread to at least one row home across Front Street, according to officials on scene.
Fire Chief Efrain Agosto said he was not aware of any injuries. Agosto said when he arrived at the scene shortly after the fire broke out, the flames were so hot you could feel them from across the street.
As flames consumed the factory building, neighbors several blocks away stood in the middle of Front Street as water ran down the street. Some of those residents said their cars were parked closer to the old factory. From about two blocks away on Front Street, flames could still be seen shooting high into the air as of 10:30 p.m.
The Red Cross Pennsylvania Rivers Chapter was working to open a shelter for displaced residents. Resurrected Life Community church Pastor Gregory Edwards posted on Facebook that he was opening the “Liberty Bell church” on Hamilton Street to anyone who needed a place to go.
Displaced residents gathered in Buck Boyle Park, across Riverside Drive behind the burning building, watching firefighters work late into the night.
Rafael Ruiz held his chihuahua Leasha as he waited for word that he would be able to go back home. Ruiz, of the 200 block of North Front Street, said he was asleep when he heard someone banging on the door. Firefighters were outside telling everyone to leave.
“I didn’t know what was happening, at first I didn’t think it was real. The power was off and it was very confusing.”
PPL has cut power to parts of the city’s 6th Ward and 1st Ward neighborhoods, affecting 3,483 customers as of 10 p.m., according to the utility’s outage map.
County Executive Josh Siegel heard about the fire after leaving Wednesday night’s Lehigh County Board of Commissioners meeting and drove to the scene. He praised the first responders who were working to help displaced residents and marveled at the numerous fire departments who were helping the effort, many from other counties.
“You get a real sense for mutual aid and how collaborative all the departments are. We all come to each other’s aid,” Siegel said.
The American Atelier building had been slated for demolition under plans submitted by Urban Residential Properties. The project calls for a new building with 267 apartments, 21,000 square feet of office space and 23,000 square feet of retail/commercial space, according to a 2025 Morning Call story.
The building is down the street from Urban Residential’s Neuweiler Lofts project at the site of the former Neuweiler Brewery.
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