About 150 people gathered outside the Windermere Court Apartments at the intersection of 48th and Walnut Streets this afternoon to call for the building’s owners to let former residents in to gather their belongings and pets left behind after a devastating fire last month.

Protesters blocked the intersection, prompting police to close streets within a block of the building. Demolition of the Windermere Court building is scheduled to begin Monday. The organizers of the protest said they will file a court injunction Monday to stop the demolition until residents are allowed to enter the building to retrieve their belongings and look for pets, mostly cats, that are still missing after the January 10 fire. No one was injured in the fire.

The organizers also called on protesters to return to the building on Monday at 8:45 a.m. to continue the demonstration.

“People’s pets are in there,” said one organizer. “Their family heirlooms are in there. The ashes of their relatives in urns are in there.”

The city Department of Licenses and Inspections (L and I) has deemed the building “imminently dangerous,” which has led to the decision to demolish it. L and I offiicials have said that the owners of the building must decide whether residents can reenter. So far the owner, which residents say is nearly impossible to reach, has not granted that authorization.

The Walnut Hill Community Association has been very helpful to the former residents of the Windermere. Residents have advised us that any call for donations should go to Walnut Hill CA. They have a page set up for donations here.

Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell stood with the protesters. Blackwell has pressed the city on behalf of the former residents.

Here is a slideshow of Saturday’s protest, which lasted from 2 p.m. to about 3 p.m.

I caught up with former longtime Windermere Court resident Patricia Brightful earlier this week at a Red Cross function in Center City at which she and a few other residents spoke. She talks about how residents are trying to maintain contact with one another and their efforts to get answers about the fate of the building and their belongings still inside.

Demolition of the building is scheduled to begin Monday. A rally will be held today at 2 p.m. outside the building at 48th and Walnut.

A spokesman for the mayor’s office told West Philly Local today that the demolition of the Windermere Court Apartments at 48th and Walnut Streets in West Philadelphia will begin Monday.

“The city and the owner have come to agreement and the building demolition will commence on Monday,” said Mark McDonald, a spokesman in Mayor Michael Nutter’s office. “The property owner is the one to talk to about the retrieval of anything inside the building. It is structurally unsound and has been declared imminently dangerous by Licenses and Inspections. But again, it’s under the owner’s control.”

The Windermere Court building was partially destroyed by fire on January 10. Residents have been pressing city officials and the owners of the building for access to retrieve their belongings and search for pets, which they have been denied. A barbed wire fence was erected around much of the building.

Many residents have organized their own security for the building to watch over what might remain from their belongings and to look for pets that were left behind during the fire and may still be alive.

“My biggest frustration is that we know that there are still pets in there alive,” said Lara Figueroa, a former Windermere resident.

Residents and the animal rescue group City Kitties are holding a rally tomorrow at 2 p.m. to protest the lack of information and cooperation from the building’s owners, who were not available for comment.

A barbed wire fence now encircles the Windermere Court building. Photo by Julija Kulneva

A rally is planned from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday outside the Windermere Court Apartments at 48th and Walnut to gather support for former residents, who still don’t have access to their belongings and pets more than a month after the fire.

Residents say they are staging the rally to make people aware of the lack of information and cooperation from the building’s owners.

The building had been deemed unsafe to enter, but residents have reportedly been told by the city that permission has been granted to the owner to allow people in. It’s the miscommunication that has former residents angry.

“It’s so frustrating,” said former resident Lara Figueroa. “Everything we find out, we find out a week after the fact.”

Residents have been told that the building will likely be at least partially demolished. The building’s owners were not available for comment.

Residents have also organized their own security of the building day and night to watch for potential looters and pets still stranded inside. The building is now surrounded by a barbed wire fence and has been padlocked.

“My biggest frustration is that we know that there are still pets in there alive,” said Figueroa. She said pets have been spotted in windows in the building, but no one has been allowed inside to rescue them.

West Philly-based feline rescue group City Kitties is joining the protest as well to help with recovering residents’ stranded pets.

City Kitties organizers write:

Despite obvious signs of life inside, no one took action–not the owners, not L&I, not the fire marshal, not the insurance investigators who all had access to the building. Just two days after this disaster, fire fighters said there was nothing more they could do and no possibility that cats could have survived.

Now the Windermere owners claim that the buildings’ exterior doors are sealed and that L&I [The city office of Licenses and Inspection] won’t allow anyone inside ever again–and yet a maintenance man, security guards, and insurance company investigators have accessed the building as recently as today, Wednesday February 9th. Meanwhile, the owners are moving forward with demolition, knowing full well that there are still pets inside!

Here is some potentially good news for victims of the fire at Windermere Court Apartments.

Governor Tom Corbett has called upon the Small Business Administration to declare Philadelphia a disaster area so that low-interest loans can be made available to victims.

“The apartment building was home to students, families and retirees who now have nothing left. In order to help these victims recover from this disaster, I have asked the federal Small Business Administration to make low-interest disaster loans available to help replace lost and damaged property,” Corbett said in a statement issued yesterday. “I urge the SBA to take prompt action on this request.”

If Corbett’s request is granted, the SBA would make low interest, long-term loans available of up to $40,000 to replace personal property. The loans are based on each applicant’s financial qualifications.

The question that will likely arise for many made homeless by the fire is their status on the lease. We had heard that some residents were not listed on leases and we are still trying to figure out how that would affect their eligibility for a loan or other aid.

There are a number of ways people in the neighborhood can help out the victims of yesterday’s fire at the Windermere Court Apartment complex at 48th and Walnut Streets.

The Salvation Army center in West Philadelphia at 5501 Market St. is accepting a variety of donations, including clothing and linens. The center is open daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Although the main entrance is on Market Street, it is easier to access from the back on Arch Street, where the door to the storage facility is located.

Here is an interview with Natasha Rush of the Salvation Army:

The Red Cross Philly, which is operating the shelter at the Locke School at 4550 Haverford Avenue is asking donors not to bring cash donations or clothing to the shelter. The best way to donate to the Red Cross, which is providing emergency supplies and spending money for the victims as well as connecting them to counseling and other types of services, is to donate on the website.

Here is an interview with Dave Schrader with the Red Cross: