U.S. Offers Aid Package for Philadelphia Fire Victims

PHILADELPHIA —  The Reagan Administration put forward a federal aid package Friday that includes $1 million, housing vouchers and the use of federally owned homes to help those whose residences were destroyed by the police bombing of a radical cult’s row house here this week.

Samuel R. Pierce Jr., secretary of housing and urban development, announced allocation of the $1 million from HUD’s discretionary fund. The money will be used to help reconstruct the block where the bomb, dropped from a police helicopter Monday, started a fire that killed 11 members of the MOVE cult, destroyed 53 homes and severely damaged eight others. About 250 Philadelphians have no place to live as a result.

Pierce told a City Hall news conference that the homeless survivors will be moved from temporary shelters into 37 HUD-owned homes and 12 other dwellings owned by the Philadelphia Housing Authority.

In addition, Pierce said, the government will provide certificates and vouchers to assure rent subsidies worth $500,000 for residents of the block, as well as staff assistance “so that everything will go on smoothly as planned.” He said three-fourths of the families qualify for the federal programs.

The federal aid plan still leaves to state and local agencies, public and private, the bulk of the reconstruction job, which is expected to cost about $8 million.

President Reagan was “deeply saddened” by the death and destruction resulting from the incident and “asked me to do everything I can to remedy the situation,” Pierce said as he announced the aid package after a tour of the burned-out block on Osage Avenue.

Mayor W. Wilson Goode refused to answer reporters’ questions at the press conference about the police bombing. He also refused to discuss whether there is an escalation in tensions between police and other MOVE members.

The mayor, besieged all week at contentious news conferences, got moral support Thursday night from Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese III.

Speaking to the California Peace Officers’ Assn. in San Francisco, Meese called Goode’s handling of the confrontation “a good example for all of us to take note of.” He added that the tragedy “was caused by the criminals, not the police.”

Rooftop Bunker

The fire that made Osage Avenue look like a war zone broke out after police dropped the bomb in an attempt to destroy a rooftop bunker at MOVE headquarters.

MOVE--the letters are not initials for other words--is a bizarre radical cult that among other things advocates social reform, refuses to allow autopsies on its members and takes in stray animals.

Osage Avenue neighbors had complained that MOVE had harassed them, brandished weapons and lived in filthy, unsanitary conditions.

Police have had two other MOVE houses under surveillance for several weeks, and some MOVE followers have vowed to avenge their comrades’ deaths.

Takes Threats Seriously

Goode has told The Times that he takes MOVE threats seriously but that police would leave the houses alone as long as no men are observed in them.

At Friday’s news conference, the mayor posed for photographers with an architect’s rendering, framed and in color, of the development planned to replace the destroyed homes. He said it would cost about $8 million to return the homeless families “to what they had beforehand,” including home furnishings.

Pennsylvania’s two Republican senators, John Heinz and Arlen Specter, also were at the news conference.

HUD’s announcement of $1 million in developmental aid still leaves open the question of where the rest of the money will come from.

Local Responsibility

Pierce contended that the federal government does not have full responsibility to rebuild the neighborhood and said that the city, business community and the state together can do the rest of the job.

Heinz asserted that the federal government helped relocate people when “Mt. St. Helens blew its top” and that it has a similar responsibility here.

Goode has asked the state for disaster relief and he said he understands that as much as $5 million could be made available.

However, the city’s $1.6-billion budget already is strained and the problem could be exacerbated by two lawsuits brought against Philadelphia and city officials by victims of the police bombing.

Claim Rights Violations

One of the suits, filed in U.S. District Court on behalf of homeowners, says that city officials violated their constitutional rights and seeks $10 million for losses. The other suit was filed in Common Pleas Court and asks $10 million in punitive damages.

In a rare bit of good news this week, homeowners were informed that Pennsylvania Fair Plan, an insurer of numerous properties near the bombing scene, will pay victims’ claims.

It had been unclear whether the company would pay because its policy denies compensation when losses result from an “order of any civil authority.”

Contributions Pour In

In the wake of the tragedy here, contributions have poured in from across the country.

Officials report numerous donations of food, clothing and money, including three $100,000 contributions.

At entrances to City Hall, uniformed officers of the Philadelphia Sheriff’s Department were soliciting donations and giving contributors buttons that read: “Philly Cares.”

“Come on,” shouted the officers, “show that Philadelphia cares.”