We were in the neighborhood the other day and came upon the surprising sight of two homes on the same block that both apparently suffered significant fire damage somewhat recently. 1225 S. 7th St. and 1245 S. 7th St. sit on a nice Passyunk Square block, around the corner from Gold Star Park and just two blocks away from the cheesesteak mecca at 9th & Passyunk.
We're not exactly sure when the property above burned, but we're confident it was it least a few months ago. You can see, it's been cited with a Doors & Windows violation, which means that the property owner will have to replace the windows in the near future or risk significant fines. We would imagine that the holdup on that front is related to an insurance claim, but we're only speculating.
Just ten houses away, a fire took place at 1245 S. 7th St. a few weeks ago according to Philly Fire News. No violations have cropped up yet on this property- probably not enough time has elapsed yet.
Hopefully, nobody was injured in either fire, and the folks who lived in these homes have been able to find decent temporary accommodations. It will be interesting to see whether the properties are simply renovated or demolished and rebuilt in the aftermath of the fires, which may depend mostly on whether the current owners hold onto them or sell off to developers. And finally, this seems like as good a time as any to remind everybody to test their smoke alarms every six months. Those things save lives every day.