Young Ilijah Rodriguez, a resident of A building in Racquet Club Apartments on Veterans Highway, sprang into action Friday night.

His brave and courageous actions saved dozens of residents of the B building, the building that caught fire around 9 p.m. last night. As Rodriguez ran from his home across the paved sidewalk to B building, he acted selflessly, not fearing for his own safety, instead worried of those trapped inside a burning building.

“I just didn’t want anyone to get hurt,” Rodriguez said humbly.

Rodriguez helped save countless residents as he banged on the doors of numerous apartments – waking some residents up and getting them out of bed. Rodriguez was just reacting how he had to, he said.

One resident Rodriguez helped alert, was the resident of B30, who was just getting ready for bed when he heard young Rodriguez banging on his door, yelling for him to get out. “I was just laying down for bed,” he said. “What a smart kid, last night, everyone knew some young boy had knocked on their door but no one could find him.”

Even the local fire chief shook Rodriguez’ hand and said, “you did a good job kid, you saved a lot of lives last night.” Rodriguez didn’t even crack a smile, just nodded and said, “well I had to.”

As far as the cause of the fire, the residents of B30 are not sure how they feel about what may have caused it. “I have heard a ton of different stories, but with the owner of B20, it could really be anything,” he said. “He is a heavy alcoholic, very heavy alcoholic, we just always let him go, he is the way he is.”Luckily for the residents of B30, their rental insurance coverage was able to kick in last night, and they spent the night at Extended Stay, which comes equipped with a kitchen, and is located right near Parx casino.

Perspectives From the Fire at Racquet Club Apartments

“Now we get a vacation – it’s just not at the beach,” he said. “It’s weird, ya know I work at a bank and I frequently see insurance checks come in. It feels weird for me now, because I am on the other end of everything,” she said.

The residents of B30, were able to save their rings, license, a pair of dress shoes, some dress shirts, and their pets. “We were able to save everything that mattered,” he said.

The residents of B30 were some lucky ones, the American Red Cross (which is currently on scene) have opened 13 cases. “A lot of people have spent the night somewhere and now they are coming back to the scene, that’s why we are here, to offer our help,” Communications Specialist, Sara Smith said. “A lot of people impacted had rental insurance, so we are just here to fill in the gaps: providing food, clothing and even helping residents refill certain medications.””We opened our shelter last night, but only 10 people needed to stay with us, which is great. That means that mostly everyone had a place to go and family to help support them,” Smith stated.

As far as the length of the support given to residents by the American Red Cross, “If it turns out that a resident wasn’t here, was on vacation, or whatever the situation is, we will give our information to management long after we leave, so that we can continue to follow-up and help those in need.”

Smith, who has driven from the American Red Cross Philadelphia office has said that the outpouring of support has been remarkable. “Shop Rite just keeps on dropping off trucks filled with things,” she said. “Even if residents feel okay and feel as if they can make it through, we just keep encouraging them to stop and pick up whatever they need.”

With an event like last night, Smith cannot help but stand by the American Cross firm believe in the power of smoke detectors. “Sure there were a few minor injuries but they worked, they saved lives, we can’t stress our important it is that everyone makes sure the ones in their home work.”

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