The roof of a 20-story high-rise under construction in Center City caught fire Monday afternoon.
Social media videos began circulating near 1 P.M. ET showing a blaze on the roof of 123 South 12th St., the building at the corner of 12th and Sansom streets. The fire became noticeable to nearby onlookers at around 12:35, NBC 10 reports. At 1:06 P.M., the Philadelphia Fire Department declared the fire under control.
Majority of the roof is ablaze and several loud explosions. Not good! 11th/12th and Sansom. #Philly #Fire pic.twitter.com/IByiH0wdVa
— Kevin R Nowak (@kevinrnowak) May 15, 2023
The construction site in question is 12+Sansom, a 399-unit multifamily project with 10K SF of ground-floor retail being developed by Greystar. External work on the building was nearly complete as of Sunday, Philly YIMBY reports. Clemens Construction Co. is the general contractor listed for the project. Requests for comment from Greystar and Clemens had not been responded to by press time.
The fire occurred on the roof of the 240-foot-tall, 20-story building, causing some explosions when propane tanks being kept on the roof ignited, NBC 10 reports. No one was injured in the blaze, a Department of Licenses and Inspections spokesperson told Bisnow.
The Philadelphia Fire Department, which sent about 100 firefighters to combat the blaze, is now investigating its cause. The department asked Clemens not to continue work at the site until the investigation is completed, an L&I spokesperson said.
Philadelphia firefighters working high rise blaze in Center City. Fire broke out around 1pm at 12th and Sansom St. @6abc @NBCPhiladelphia @FOX29philly @CBSPhiladelphia @PhillyInquirer pic.twitter.com/LCPo7gDGLD
— Mike Neilon (@MikeNeilon) May 15, 2023
The property at 123-27 South 12th St. had two unresolved violations with L&I dating back to April 2022 — one for an unsubmitted inspection report and another for an uncompleted special inspection, according to city records. An L&I spokesperson declined to comment on the open violations.
Greystar is no stranger to construction site issues. A crane collapsed at one of its developments in Dallas in 2019, damaging a neighboring apartment building and killing one of its residents. In late April, a Dallas jury ordered Greystar to pay the victim's family $860M in damages.
UPDATE, MAY 15, 4:30 P.M. ET: This article has been updated to include confirmation of the building involved and information from L&I.
