Aug. 07--Four homes were heavily damaged, three families displaced, and at least five firefighters injured Tuesday afternoon in a blaze in a Norristown rowhouse neighborhood, officials said.
Two other homes suffered minor damage in the fire that broke out shortly before 3 p.m. at a home in the 1000 block of Willow Street, where a work crew was repairing a roof, and spread quickly.
The conditions of the firefighters were not known.
Eleven fire companies responded to the scene, which became a neighborhood drama as people poured out of their houses to watch from their front steps and lawn chairs.
The fire was declared under control at 4:30 p.m.
All of the residents "self-evacuated," and the work crew was on the ground at the time of he fire, said Thomas M. O'Donnell, chief of the Fire Department.
He said the roofs of four of the houses, one of which was condemned, collapsed in the blaze. He said the other three houses likely would be condemned.
A fire wall prevented more serious damage to the houses on each side of the four, he said.
In all, 21 people were displaced, said Dave C. Schrader, a spokesman for the Red Cross, which he said was assessing their needs.
Contact Carolyn Davis at 610-313-8109, [email protected], or follow @carolyntweets on Twitter.
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