Philadelphia

Firefighters Battle Massive Fire at Old Tire Warehouse

The fire started at a building on Richmond and Tioga streets Sunday night, sending flames into the air and smoke over I-95

NBC Universal, Inc.

A massive building fire that shut down Interstate 95 in both directions in Philadelphia's Port Richmond neighborhood was put under control after firefighters battled the flames and smoke Sunday night.

The four-alarm fire started at a three-story vacant tire manufacturing building at Richmond and Tioga streets Sunday shortly before 10 p.m. A neighbor told NBC10 it was the Paul J. Dooling Tire Company.

Firefighters are battling a massive building fire in Philadelphia's Port Richmond neighborhood.

More than 100 firefighters responded to the scene to fight the flames.

The fire also briefly shut down I-95 in both directions due to poor visibility the smoke was causing. Shortly before midnight, officials confirmed the fire was under control.

No injuries were reported.

Firefighters continued to pour water onto the smoldering remains of the building throughout Monday morning.

The fire brought up bad memories for some people in the neighborhood of a large tire fire in 1996 that caused I-95 to be closed for several months.

"It's really scary for the community," said a woman who was in elementary school during that 1996 blaze.

NBC10's Randy Gyllenhaal reports from Philadelphia's Port Richmond neighborhood after an old tire warehouse went up in flames Sunday night, bringing back memories of a 1996 tire fire that caused Interstate 95 to be closed for months. Luckily, this fire only briefly closed the nearby interstate.

This fire, luckily, wasn't that fire.

The cause of Sunday night's fire remained under investigation Monday morning.

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