Philadelphia fights fire, ice as Boston battles snow: ‘This is historic’

Snowy conditions and sub-zero wind chill factors hit spots north hard in the last 24 hours, leaving firefighters in Philadelphia battling a three-story blaze on a building that houses the Locust Medical Center — that was then encased in ice — while residents in Boston dug out from yet another double-digit-inch dump of snow.

The temperatures in Philadelphia were at 3 degrees — with the wind chill, 16 below zero — while firefighters fought back flames from the third floor of the medical building, The Morning Call reported. Icicles hung from the ends of firefighters’ hoses, the news outlet said.

Meanwhile, Boston-area residents faced a similar deep freeze.

In the last three weeks, the city’s suffered 58.5 inches of snow — a new record that bests the January 2005 high by more than 15 inches, the Boston Globe reported.

The heavy snowfall’s been having a dramatic effect on some businesses and homes, with Foxborough, Marshfield and other Massachusetts residents reporting roof cavings and building collapses.

“This is historic,” Boston Mayor Martin Walsh said at a recent news conference, the Boston Globe reported. “We’ve never seen this type of snow in this type of period in the history of this city.”