Dec 10, 2003

Fire Destroys Pennsylvania Floral WarehouseSource: Philadelphia Inquirer

A four-alarm fire destroyed a floral warehouse in Nicetown, Pa., on December 3, ruining everything in the building and causing a commuter rail line to shut down for a while.

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the fire broke out a little after 1 p.m. at the Pennock Wholesale Florist warehouse, which is a major supplier for Philadelphia florists. According to the Executive Fire Chief, no one was injured.

By approximately 2:30 p.m., there were more than 100 firefighters were on the scene. This caused a SEPTA commuter rail line to be halted because firefighters had stretched hoses across rail lines to get to the fire.

As of press time, officials had no determination of what caused the fire but it was successfully under control a little after 3 p.m.

Also according to the Philadelphia Inquirer few customers were inside the warehouse when the incident happened because the wholesaler is at its busiest early in the morning.

Pennock has 14 wholesale flower-sales branches on the East Coast. The owner estimates that this facility sold approximately 40 percent of the flowers for sale by Philadelphia florists.

The SEPTA riders were taken by shuttle bus to another functioning station and service was restored around 4 p.m.