ALLENTOWN, Pa. — The fire on Front Street in Allentown has turned the neighborhood upside down. 

The heat and flames damaged homes. 

The Red Cross says it has helped more than two dozen people, living in nine places around the factory. 

The cleanup continues here at the scene, demolition had to be halted once again when some new hot spots were discovered. 

The fire started almost 48 hours ago, and some areas buried deep down are still smoldering.

The city says it is making sure the old building is brought down safely. It had hoped to have the demolition completed Fruday, but with new hot spots discovered, the building will more likely be demolished Saturday.

The assistant chief says it’s century-old heavy timber construction is challenging to bring down safely and also to keep debris off of busy Riverside Drive.

“Some of the unknowns, we just need to be sure that the building is being brought down safely. For example, we have Riverside Drive still shut down…and the chance any debris should fall onto a lane of travel. So we just want to be extra safe to account for these unknowns,” Jon Steed, assistant fire chief, said. 

This fire destroyed so much in one night, and although nobody was killed, lives were changed.

We’re talking about 19 adults and 6 kids, including a baby.

And remember, this fire broke out at the beginning of the summer. These kids relied on school programs for breakfast, and lunch. Where do they go now?

In a time like this, so many of our viewers want to reach out and help.

The United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley says its helping 25 people in nine households that were affected by the fire, and six of them are children. 

The United Way is asking for clothes, toiletries, cash, and gift cards for stores and restaurants to help bridge these families until they have established a place to live. 

“But it just went live. We just had a partner call in and said, ‘We’re going to send the five-thousand dollars. We’ve had another partner call in and say we’re going to send in this amount. We’ll see. But it goes somewhere between five and forty thousand collars It all depends on what the community actually gives,” said Marci Lesko, CEO of the United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley. 

If you are interested in donating, you can at their website here. 

The investigation remains ongoing.