A crowd gathered outside Lorenzo and Sons Pizza early this afternoon
to mourn a South Street landmark consumed by a blaze that burned for
over an hour before firefighters could stamp it out.

“The building was difficult to ventilate,” Deputy Chief Joseph McGraw
said. “There’s no access from the rear and no vents in the front. We had
to cut a hole in the roof to get the fire under control.”

He said 65 firefighters and emergency medical services personnel
responded to the call shortly before 10:30 a.m. The three-story building, which also houses several apartments, was extinguished at 11:45 a.m. One firefighter suffered a non-life-threatening
injury to his left knee and was treated at Hahnemann University
Hospital.

Owner Giuseppe Pulizzi was at the bank making a deposit when he heard
the news. “I just got a phone call,” he said as he watched firefighters
file out of the still-smoking shell this morning. The shop’s blackened interior could be seen from the street through several large openings cut in the facade, beheading a mural of namesake Lorenzo Pulizzi.

“A worker called me
saying there was smoke coming from the exhaust,” Giuseppe Pulizzi said. “He tried putting it out
with a fire extinguisher, but black smoke kept coming out.”

Pulizzi said his first fear was for his dog, which was upstairs on the second floor. “I ran up, got the dog out, grabbed a t-shirt and put
it over my face,” he said. By then, the smoke had become overwhelming.
“A firefighter told me to evacuate the building and get everyone out.”

Lorenzo’s has been a mainstay of the ever-changing corridor since 1988. The takeout joint is famous – or
infamous, depending on who you ask – for its gargantuan slices and rigid rules. Regulars can recall the paper signs reading “Toppings on slices – don’t even think about it!” that graced the walls for years.

Open until 3 a.m. on weekdays and 4 a.m. Fridays and
Saturdays, Lorenzo’s is also a popular after-hours spot, with lines known to wrap around the block after bars let out, flooding the streets with hungry hordes of grease-craving party people.

“I’ve been going there for 15 years,” said Tina DeCarlo, who works
nearby. “I’m bummed. Where else am I gonna get pizza at 2 a.m.?”

“Anytime I hit up South Street at night, I stop in,” Mark
DiGiambattista said. “I guess I’m not getting pizza today,” he added
mournfully.

But late-night slice lovers can rest easy. Though Pulizzi was not yet
allowed inside to assess the damage early this afternoon, he said Lorenzo’s
will reopen regardless. “That’s not an issue,” he said. “We’ll do it as
soon as possible – we’ve got a lot of loyal customers.”

[View the story “Polarizing pizza: Philadelphians react to fire at Lorenzo and Sons” on Storify]

Polarizing pizza: Philadelphians react to fire at Lorenzo and Sons

News spread through the Twitterverse like wildfire (pun totally intended), ranging from genuine shock and sadness to genuine joy and celebration, interspersed with a heaping portion of bickering and plenty of bad jokes about drunk college nights and rude cashiers, served up Philly-style.

Storified by Alex Wigglesworth · Wed, Jun 27 2012 16:38:45