Looking Back Philadelphia 2001

In Octoberand November2001, the city of Philadelphia was flooded with calls of suspicious substances, as people thought it could be anthrax. The city started Rapid Assessment Teams (RATs) that would be dispatched to hundreds of runs throughout the city in a single day. Nothing was everdetermined to be hazardous.

One of the deadliest arson fires in the history of Philadelphia happened when a 20-year-old man intentionally set two fires at an apartment complex on the 9600 block of Bustleton Avenue in May 1986. Nine people died and several others sustained injury trying to evacuate. The arsonists was given nine life sentences.