An electrical fire ignited at a power-supply pole at 39th and Delancey streets yesterday evening, knocking out power and phone services for several residences on the block.
No one was injured in the fire, and police officials say they do not yet know what caused it.
Penn Division of Public Safety received a call that the pole was on fire at around 7 p.m. yesterday. Within 25 minutes, the Philadelphia Fire Department arrived and cleared the area, which was blocked off by emergency tape.
The affected residences include several fraternity and sorority houses, as well as other homes on the 3900 block of Delancey.
The fire "got big for a minute and went away really fast," College senior Laura Ateca said. "There was a huge crowd at first, but the police made everyone go away."
Ateca, who lives at 39th and Delancey, did not lose power in her home, but the sorority house directly across the street, Alpha Chi Omega, did.
Fire services officials said that the flames had nearly completely died down by the time they arrived.
