10:14 p.m. The fire heavily damaged the third and fourth floors at 4500 Walnut St. Saad’s Halal Restaurant is on the ground floor of the building. We talked to Saad at the scene and he said his place has sustained heavy water damage. The Southeastern PA chapter of the Red Cross is reporting that 12 of the 15 apartment units in the building were destroyed. The Red Cross is currently providing assistance to 30 people displaced by the fire. Three people, including one firefighter, were reportedly taken to the hospital.

8:19 p.m. The fire has been extinguished and there have been no injuries, according to a fire official on the scene who asked not to be named. The fire began in a fourth floor apartment in a four-floor building on the southwest corner of 45th and Walnut. Firefighters heard an explosion from the apartment at one point. It is still unclear why the man in the video was handcuffed. Police on the scene would not comment.

7:20 p.m. A multi-alarm fire is burning near the corner of 45th and Market Streets. The fire appears to be south of Saad’s restaurant at the corner of 45th and Walnut. One man was pulled from the building, down a ladder and handcuffed. Police have taken over the scene and could supply no information on the fire or the arrest. At least one other person was pulled from the building and placed on a stretcher.

The area around the fire was quickly declared a crime scene with multiple police units responding, including plain clothes police. The fire itself was not visible from 45th street. It appeared to be in a low-rise building one or two doors south of Saad’s.

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Messages in support of Rocco on the City Kitties Facebook page.

The West Philly feline rescue group City Kitties is still hard at work trying to save at least one cat still inside the Windermere Court Apartments. A brown tabby named Rocco had been spotted in the basement. A demolition worker apparently captured Rocco, but the cat was able to break free and is back on his own. City Kitties is now reporting that crews had seen Humbert in the basement, not Rocco. Humbert was rescued this morning (see below). So the hunt for Rocco continues. If Humbert can make it out, there is no reason to believe that Rocco can’t.

Rocco has achieved rock star status on the City Kitties Facebook page, with fans cheering him on. City Kitties have set up humane traps in an attempt to rescue Rocco. City Kitties writes:

“Rocco is a front-declawed brown tabby with white paws, wearing a purple collar. No photo available at this time. If you see a cat matching this description, please contact City Kitties immediately. Rocco lived on the 1st floor, east end of the building.”

Humbert was rescued from the Windermere this morning.

Meanwhile, another Windermere cat has been reunited with his owner. Humbert was found this morning, some 37 days after the fire. His two sisters, M2 and Sadie, were rescued earlier.

City Kitties provides a complete guide on how to help the cats and voice your concern on their website here.

Here is an excerpt from the guide:

You can help by donating food (canned or dry), old towels or blankets, and bleach (for cleaning traps) to Project MEOW. Email projectmeow@gmail.com or visit their facebook page for details. Become a City Kitties foster home so that we can help as many of these cats as possible. Please do NOT place cat food in the area around the building, as this will discourage cats from entering the traps.

Windermere Court residents lined up into the night last night to try to get some of their stuff back. Most of them didn’t get much.

Residents were asked to make a list of things they wanted from their apartments. In some cases they drew maps of where things like documents were. The catch was that all of the stuff had to fit into two large garbage bags. The building’s management assigned a handful of demolition workers to search the nearly 100 apartments for items. Residents were escorted a couple at a time through a locked fence into the building courtyard to retrieve what the crews could find.

As we reported yesterday, residents have filed a class action lawsuit against the buildings owners and management.

The demolition of the Windermere is scheduled to begin today.

We wanted to share some video we shot late yesterday of people’s stories of getting their belongings back and the fairly humiliating process they had to go through. Here it is:

5:15 p.m.: We have put several calls into the fire department to clarify the number of people taken to the hospital. They have not returned phone calls. The building has been boarded up and a restoration crew is on site to assess the damages.

9:45 a.m.: Firefighters have brought the fire under control. They are not yet speculating on a cause. The Philadelphia Inquirer is reporting that two people have been hospitalized.

The fire was reported at 7:38 a.m. and the fire department declared it under control by 8:07. The building provided transition living services for people with disabilities.

8:14: A multi-alarm fire has engulfed a single story building at 4536 Spruce St. Thick smoke was pouring out of the windows and some of the residents of the building, which is run by Transition to Independent Living Inc., were being carried out on stretchers. We’re still trying to get better idea if anyone is seriously injured.

Two residents of the Windermere Court Apartments have filed a class action lawsuit against the building’s owners and management.

The suit claims that the tenants of the building at 48th and Walnut suffered economic losses and emotional distress because of the “negiligence, carelessness and/or recklessness” of the building’s management company, Windermere Court Management Corp., and its owners, David and Sam Ginsberg. Specifically, the suit alleges that the building was not equipped with proper fire detection and suppression equipment – things like smoke alarms and sprinklers – and that the management failed to inspect the building regularly to ensure that it complied with fire codes.

The plaintiffs in the case are Theodore Schall, who lived in an apartment very close to where the Jan. 10 fire began, and John Brendan (J.B) Farley, who has been a key organizer of the recent protests to allow residents to enter the building to retrieve their pets and belongings.

All the residents of the building have been named int he lawsuit and it is their choice whether to opt out.

As the lawsuit was filed today, residents lined up at the building to be given garbage bags with belongings from the apartments. Each resident who arrived at the building today was asked to list the items they wanted from their apartment. The items had to fit in two large garbage bags. Residents were escorted one-by-one through a gate to claim their belongings.

The demolition of the building is set to begin tomorrow.

Residents seem to have been granted limited access through a third party to retrieve some of their belongings. But that information is still conflicting and confusing.

Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell’s office is reporting that it successfully petitioned the building’s owners to allow some access. A man, whose name is reportedly Tom Vail, will be on site at the building from noon to 3 p.m. this afternoon and from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. this evening. Residents should report to Vail to request that belongings be retrieved. They will then be bagged and turned over to the building’s security, Blackwell’s representative, Anjali Chainani, said by e-mail. Building residents themselves will still not be permitted to enter the building.

Resident representative J.B. Farley said the situation is still confusing and that he is still trying to determine how the plan to retrieve belongings will work.

There has been no indication that a search for surviving cats left behind during the fire will be conducted.

Meanwhile, a crew from PGW was at the Windermere building today to sever the gas lines in preparation for the building’s demolition, which is now scheduled to begin tomorrow (photo left).