Philly’s Queen Village raises funds for fire victims

Neighbors are raising money to help those displaced by a Philadelphia fire that killed one firefighter and injured another.

Most of more than a dozen displaced renters had no insurance, said Jeff Hornstein, president of the Queen Village Neighborhood Association.

“We can’t really get too close to the sites yet,” he said. “They’re completely demolishing at least one of the buildings and possibly another one. So they [the tenants] lost everything.”

The fire began in a shop on the stretch of Fourth Street known as Fabric Row. Fire Capt. Michael Goodwin was killed when part of a building collapsed.

Hornstein, who says the association made a modest donation to the Firefighters Union, said the city encouraged the association and the South Street Headhouse District to focus on helping their neighbors recover.

“To focus,” in Hornstein’s words, “on the renters because those are the folks who are in the greatest need and have the least support structures around them.”

He says the group has raised more than $4,000 online. They will also hold events with local businesses. The Queen Village boutique, Bus Stop, which celebrated its sixth anniversary Friday, intends to donate a percentage of its proceeds to the relief fund.