Warehouse fire at Front and Girard | Revitalizing W. Rockland | SEPTA’s lobbying | Carriage house survivor

A vacant four-story warehouse near the intersection Front and Girard was consumed by an overnight fire. The fire is under control and one firefighter was injured. As a result of the blaze’s proximity to the Market-Frankford El, SEPTA has had to shut down service between Huntington and Spring Garden, replacing it with shuttle buses. The Route 15 trolley is also running via shuttle bus. Action News reported that the property (1118-30 N Front Street) is owned by Liberty Homes Tower Investments Incorporated, a company that is part of developer Bart Blatstein’s sphere. [photos]

Sisters Aine and Emaleigh Doley are tag-team blight fighters, determined to mend their Germantown block my mobilizing neighbors to clean and green every property on the block. Today’s Daily News profiles their revitalization efforts on West Rockland Street, from a block wide gardening program for front yards and vacant properties to their persistent nudging of city officials and departments to deal with nuisance properties.

After a Federal Transit Administration review, SEPTA was found to have violated reporting requirements for payments to Washington lobbyists, reports the Inquirer. The transit agency could be fined up to $100,000 per incident.

For his column at Hidden City Daily, GroJLart traces the story of how a small carriage house – now the pub Mace’s Crossing – at 17th and Cherry managed to survive despite the construction of the Parkway and Market West skyscrapers. GroJLart writes, “the carriage house would be one of the only structures on the south side of the Parkway between 17th and 19th Streets and one of only three small buildings that survived in the Parkway’s destructive wake–and the only one that directly faces it.”

The Buzz is Eyes on the Street’s morning news digest. Have a tip? Send it along.