PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) – A firefighter has died after being trapped in a building that caught fire in Philadelphia and then collapsed early Saturday, fire officials said.
The fallen firefighter was not immediately identified, but Deputy Fire Commissioner Craig Murphy said he was a 27-year veteran of the department. “It’s going to be a tough week,” Murphy told a media conference around 8 p.m.
The fire broke out around 2 a.m. in a restaurant and a three-story residential building located on the 300 block of West Indiana Avenue in the Fairhill section of the city. The fire had been extinguished, but then the building collapsed at 3:24 p.m.
Four other firefighters and an inspector from the city’s Licensing and Inspection Department were also trapped at the time of the collapse. A firefighter jumped from the second floor of the rubble, Murphy said.
The others were removed at different times.
Two firefighters and an L&I worker have been released from Temple University Hospital. One of the firefighters remains hospitalized in critical but stable condition.
The dead firefighter was pronounced dead at the scene.
TRAGEDY. A 27-year veteran of the Philadelphia Fire Department died after being trapped in the rubble of a 3rd and Indiana collapse in Fairhill. 4 more firefighters and an L&I inspector were rescued @ 6abc pic.twitter.com/a15CrLjG1b
– Beccah Hendrickson (@ Beccah6abc) June 18, 2022
“That can’t be predicted,” Murphy told reporters at a news conference. “This was just a catastrophic accident that (has) really hurt our department.”
Investigators were investigating what caused the collapse. Murphy said the building had been affected by the fire, but it was unclear what caused it to collapse.
Mayor Jim Kenney said in a Twitter post that he was “in mourning with members of the Philadelphia Fire Department and all of Philadelphia who today lost one of ours in the line of duty.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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