Philadelphia firefighter dies after building collapses on West Indiana Avenue in Fairhill; 5 others were also injured

The fallen firefighter was not immediately identified, but Deputy Fire Commissioner Craig Murphy said he was a 27-year-old department veteran. “It’s going to be a tough couple of weeks,” Murphy said at a news conference around 8 a.m

The fire broke out around 2 a.m. at a three-story restaurant and apartment building on the 300 block of West Indiana Avenue in the Fairhill neighborhood. The fire had been extinguished, but then the building collapsed at 3:24 a.m

Four other firefighters and an inspector from the city’s Board of Licensing and Inspections were also trapped at the time of the collapse. A firefighter jumped from the rubble from the second floor, Murphy said.

The others were pulled out at different times.

Two firefighters and the L&I worker were released from Temple University Hospital. One firefighter remains hospitalized in critical but stable condition.

The deceased firefighter was pronounced dead at the scene.

“You can’t predict that,” Murphy told reporters at a news conference. “It was just a catastrophic accident that really hurt our department.”

Investigators are investigating the cause of the collapse. Murphy said the building was affected by the fire, but it’s unclear what caused it to collapse.

Mayor Jim Kenney said in a Twitter post that he “mourns with the members of the Philadelphia Fire Department and throughout Philadelphia who lost one of us in the line of duty today.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.