ALLENTOWN, Pa. — An Allentown neighborhood is still picking up the pieces from a massive fire that started two nights ago at an old furniture factory.
The fire was so large, hundreds of fire fighters came from around the region to get it under control, and several residents still haven’t been able to return home.
The fire broke out at the old American Atelier Furniture Factory on Front Street. A firefighter was injured, and is expected to make a full recovery. Nobody else was injured.
Red Cross has helped 26 people in nine separate units, and as some still wait to return home, now comes the cleanup.
Some 200 firefighters from 21 departments across the region rushed in to aid the Allentown community.
Some neighbors were forced to leave their homes from excessive smoke.
“It was getting pretty crazy, and my mom had bad asthma, so it started messing up, like, how we had to breathe and everything. So, we definitely just left right away,” said Samian Viez, who lives near where the fire broke out.
Some are facing total loss and still waiting to return.
“To come back and see everything savage, you know, lost pretty much, it’s very devastating,” said Miriam Rodriguez, whose parents’ house is across from the factory.
And as city officials continue the clean-up, officials still have much work to do, while counting the blessings.