WILMINGTON, Del.-- Firefighters are battling a four-alarm blaze at the old unoccupied Speakman Building that has flames shooting 30 feet into the air, according to witnesses.
The fire was reported about 2:30 p.m. at the company at 201 E. 30th St., in Wilmington. "It's a multiblock factory that's abandoned," Wilmington Communication Director John Rago said.
Parts of the brick building have collapsed, taking down a telephone pole and sending power lines to the ground. People are asked to stay away from the building.
Witnesses watched as more wires fell, and another wall fell down on Spruce Street sending nearby residents screaming.
Rago said at 3:15 p.m. that the building, which stretches a full city block, was fully engulfed in flames.
"The firefighters are doing the best they can, but the wind is whipping the water in the other direction," he said. "As far as I know there are no injuries."
"The firefighters are having some problems because the winds are high and the fire is getting blown through the building," Rago said. "We're looking at some homeless, who we've known who have hung out [there] in the past."
He also said the firefighters are having trouble with the water pressure and need to bring in additional lines to fight the blaze.
Firefighters in several ladder trucks are spraying the water from the top of their ladders.
Bertha Wright, who lives in an apartment across the street from the factory, said the power went off and she noticed the fire.
"I felt the heat and I said, 'Is this building going to blow too?'"
The inspectors told her to evacuate. All the residences in the immediate area have been evacuated.
Wright, who said she needed to get back into her house so she could take her blood pressure and anxiety medication, is wondering what is going to happen.
"What I've got on is all that I have," she said.
Witnesses reported seeing a large plumes of black smoke from as far away as New Castle.
Wilmington Fire Company spokesman Capt. Michael Schaal said when firefighters arrived, heavy smoke and fire were coming from the rear of the building.
An ambulance has been set up on 31st and Spruce Streets to assist if there are any injuries.
Paul F. Calistro Jr., executive director of Cornerstone West, which was set to purchase the building, said environmental clean-up workers had been in the building recently to remove old chemicals present at the site. He does not know if that work played a role in today's fire.
The clean-up workers were from REACT Environmental Services Inc., a Philadelphia-based contractor and consultant. Calistro said he did not know if the clean-up workers were inside the building today.
"It looks bad, real bad," Calistro said.
The site contains some soil contaminated with lead and PCBs from old electrical transformers, as well as traces of tricholorethylene, which was used for cleaning metal parts, said Kathy Stiller Banning, program manager for the Site Investigation and Restoration Branch of the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control.
The chemicals are common in old industrial sites, she said.
The clean up involves taking away soil contaminated with the chemicals and then laying down a vapor barrier before building the houses, she said. The barrier will keep any remaining chemicals from seeping to the surface, she said.
The site is two blocks from Riverview Cemetery and a block from the state Department of Correction's Plummer Center for work release inmates.
North Market Street is closed between 29th and 34th streets.
Police are warning residents to stay away from the area because of the danger posed by leftover chemicals inside the building.
Speakman Place Park has been evacuated, police are roaming through the park with their flashers on, and Delmarva Power is on the scene.
Some nearly businesses are closing for the day because of power and telephone loss, including Little Blessing Day Care on 31st Street.
Director Teresa Dawson said she had to call the parents using cell phones to come pick up the children.
According to a previous report in The News Journal, the 6-acre Speakman property was on the market for more than $2 million, but the company agreed to cut the price to about $900,000 for Cornerstone.
Speakman and Cornerstone West had been scheduled to settle the purchase on Jan. 15, and demolition was set to begin the next day, Calistro said. The project had cleared a variety of legal, government and financial hurdles recently, he said.
Calistro gathered with political and community leaders on Oct. 17 to officially announce the project and begin selling the townhomes.
"We're going to have to evaluate what, if anything, changes in terms of environmental conditions," Calistro said. "It's our plan to continue with the project. I'm not sure what this means. We're hoping it's a minor setback."
Republished with permission of The News Journal.
