Officials On Site at Cheltenham Condo Complex

It still smelled like smoke in the 1600 block of Church Road early this morning. Replacing fire trucks and fire fighters were a huge crane and lots of debris and used plastic water bottles on the lawn.

The condominium complex caught fire late Friday night.

See the initial story here.

Bill Underwood, an independent engineer contracted by Cheltenham Township, was on site. He was there waiting for township officials; a PECO representative was there as well.

“The township called us in directly to see if the building had to be condemned or not and to keep others out of the building,” Underwood said. “This is our first time at the site, but the architect of the building is supposed to arrive on site later today.” 

The fire displaced about 150 people, and three fire fighters were reported to have received minor injuries.

One of the displaced residents was sitting outside the complex in a Ford Taurus X with his insurance agent; his parents were standing outside of the car pacing. He declined to comment.  

The Red Cross said Sunday night that it had closed its temporary shelter at Cheltenham High School after providing financial assistance to 47 people from 37 families. The agency said it had helped people obtain food, clothing, shelter, medicine, and toiletries.

All the people who had been staying at the shelter had found other places to say, Red Cross spokesman Dave Schrader said.

Due to the holiday, calls to Cheltenham Township, The Philadelphia Red Cross and the Fire Marshal were not returned Monday.

Check back later for an update.