Community garden left to pick up the pieces after Kensington warehouse fire

- A community garden, a symbol of hope for some, is in rebuilding mode a day after a raging fire destroyed a warehouse in Kensington. Cheyenne Corin has the story.

Right here is where the three-alarm fire happened yesterday morning. It completely engulfed this empty warehouse. You can still see some of that debris here on the ground. Fortunately, no one was injured, but this nearby community garden was damaged, and now they need help to rebuild.

"This is a very short term fix to the long term problem that we're facing," said Britt Carpenter, Executive Director of the Philly Unknown Project, while showing the temporary solutions in place at the affected site.

A day after large flames and dense black smoke surrounded a warehouse next door, Britt Carpenter shows us how the fire impacted their community garden in Kensington.

"There were a lot of emotions going through me because you just don't know. When you're looking to build and better a community and all of a sudden see things taken away from it, it hits you," Carpenter expressed.

Philly Unknown Project nonprofit provides resources to those experiencing homelessness, substance abuse disorder, and incarceration. One of their initiatives, started in 2020, is the Ruth Street Garden - a safe space for people to connect.

"Due to the trauma and the crisis we've been facing here in Kensington for years, and myself being in recovery, I saw how much I took away from this community that I wanted to bring something back to the community that was a little bit of a sanctuary," Carpenter said, reflecting on the motivations behind the garden.

But this fire almost took everything the community worked so hard to build.

"The fire department came in. They had to cut the fence at the very bottom post to be able to pull the firetrucks in the lot," Carpenter recalled, describing the efforts to contain the fire.

"So we had to use whatever we had in the garden as far as lumber, pallets, we had doors," he added, detailing the quick thinking that went into protecting the garden.

Another big concern for the garden was protecting the hens that they just got two weeks ago. Luckily, as confirmed by Carpenter, they are safe despite the coop right next to a wall that was compromised by the fire.

"They were out, actually one of the firemen let them out of the coop and actually led them back here and the fireman stood with them the entire time, but it's a concern," Carpenter shared.

And while many have already lent a helping hand, Carpenter notes, "We just need help with getting things together. Rebuilding a little bit. Making sure our structure is sound if the wall comes down."

"We're just grateful we're able to have this here, protect the garden, everybody's safe still, and the hens are good," he concluded with appreciation for the support and protection they have received.