Fire at Franciscan Friary: Seven Friars Homeless

By KEVIN J. MACLEAN
CS&T Managing Editor

Seven friars who have spent years helping the homeless have now found themselves homeless following a multi-alarm fire Christmas morning in their Kensington rowhouse.
What could have been a devastating blaze at 1802 East Hagert St., where the friars have lived since 1983, was caught in the early stages when Father Michael Duffy, O.F.M., took a minute away from the holiday meal at the St. Francis Inn soup kitchen and walked across the street to grab his camera.
As he opened the door he was met by a smokey haze.
“Someone must have left the oven on in the kitchen,” he thought at first, going over all the other possibilities in his mind.
Making his way to the second floor of the three-story structure, where the now heavy smoke seemed to be originating, he soon realized this was more than an oven fire.
His concern shifted to the whereabouts of the friars. In addition to himself, ‘Juniper House’ as it’s been dubbed, is the home of Franciscan Fathers Francis Pompei, Charlie Finnegan, Bill DeBiase, and Brothers Xavier De La Huerta, Tom Ennis and John Gill.
As Father Michael mentally went through the list, he realized Father Charlie was the only person he couldn’t immediately account for. Feeling his way through the house, he yelled for his colleague while trying to determine the cause of the smoke. It was just before noon.
As Father Michael looks back on it, a moment’s hesitation as he came upon Brother Xavier’s room probably saved him from possible injury. The bedroom door was too hot to touch — not opening the door probably averted a potential backdraft explosion.
Father Michael said he grabbed a cordless phone and called 911, only to be cut off as the flames ripped through the power lines, cutting electricity to the building.
“Hello, this is Father Michael. … ” were the only words he was able to get out before the phone went dead. Alarmed now, he ran outside and yelled toward the soup kitchen “Our house is on fire! Call 911! Hurry!”
Within minutes of Father Michael’s dash into the building to grab his computer and some Christmas gifts, flames were shooting from a second floor window.
Since he was still unsure if a 911 call had been made, Father Michael was relieved when the first engine appeared on the scene. Evidently, emergency personnel tracked the 911 call before the phone went dead and immediately sent help.

STILL STANDING — Charred remains of a St. Francis of Assisi figure clinging to Jesus on the cross are among the only visible evidence left following a fire at the Franciscan friary, which houses the men who serve at the St. Francis Inn soup kitchen in Kensington. (Photo by Kevin J. MacLean)

By now, the street was full of onlookers, including Father Charlie who was at the San Damiano Spiritual Center just down the road when the fire broke out.
Although the fire was brought under control within the hour, the second floor sustained extensive fire and smoke damage and the first floor ceiling crashed to the floor under the weight of water.
Despite the appearance, Father Michael said there was no structural damage to the building and the friars plan on rebuilding.
“One friar lost everything … all his clothes, 20 years worth of belongings,” he said of Brother Xavier. “Everything else was smoke damaged.”
The cause of the fire was determined to be electrical, possibly an extension cord under Brother Xavier’s bed. No one was injured in the blaze.
Father Michael said the friars have moved temporarily into other area buildings. Until Juniper House is rebuilt, which the insurance company says could take up to three months, the friars can be reached at the Spiritual Center, (215) 423-6379, or at the Inn, (215) 423-5845.
As far as donations of household furniture, Father Michael said right now they don’t have a place to put anything. The next step will be bringing in a dumpster so they can start throwing things out and discovering what is salvageable.
“Three friars might be able to move back in a few weeks,” he said. “In the meantime, it’s just another project for us to work on.”

Contact Kevin J. MacLean at (215) 965-1725 or kmaclean@adphila.org