L&I shuts down Kensington junkyard after fire

KENSINGTON (WTXF) - Philadelphia officials shut down the junkyard that burned for more than 12 hours earlier this month and injured a firefighter.

READ MORE: Kensington junkyard fire spews thick smoke, flames; 1 firefighter injured

17 days after a huge fire ripped through a metal and resource recovery yard at Tulip and Somerset, neighbors are still buzzing about the fire.

"That fire was horrible. If it wasn't for the wind, these house would have been all down," neighbor Tara Shipley told FOX 29. "I have major headaches. I'm still cleaning up black out of my house--off my walls."

On Friday, neighbors were pleased to hear the news that L&I has shut down the scrapyard until the owner reduces the size of the piles of debris to 10 feet and creates clear fire lanes inside the facility

"They will need to bring the place into a condition where the neighbors and the neighborhood is safe," L&I spokeswoman Karen Guss told FOX 29.

FOX 29 visited the site on Friday, there was no traffic in or out. The owner told us off camera that he is fully complying with L&I orders. He says the pile sizes are being reduced and fire lanes are being cleared, although he insists they were always in compliance with L&I requirements.

"There's been compliance problems for quite sometime. We have a case in court against him," Guss explained.

Meanwhile, the cause of the fire has still not been determined and neighbors impacted by the July 10th blaze are still concerned.

"It's not about punishing people. It's about keeping families and neighborhoods safe," Guss added.

L&I has a court hearing scheduled with the owner on August 30th. The owner told FOX 29 he hopes to have all the L&I issues cleared up and the business reopened in about a week.