PHILADELPHIA - A firefighter is dead after an early morning fire caused a building to collapse in Fairhill, according to officials.Lieutenant Sean Williamson, a 27-year veteran of the Philadelphia Fire Department, was killed after a portion of the building collapsed.Crews responded to the fire as it broke out at a commercial building on the 300 block West Indiana Avenue around 2 a.m.
They were able to get the fire under control in about 15 minutes. However, a large portion of the building collapsed as officials surveyed the damage and crews attended to displaced residents.Six people were reportedly trapped underneath the building, five firefighters and one license and inspections inspector.Five were rescued from the fire, including Fire Marshal Sylvester Burton, Lieutenant Clarence Johnson, Firefighter Dennis Bailey and Firefighter Robert Brennan, Jr., and transported to Temple University Hospital.
Supervisor with Emergency Services Unit at L&I Thomas Rybakowski was also trapped and rescued from the rubble. He and Lt.
Johnson and Lt. Burton were treated at Temple and released. Brennan and Bailey are in critical, but stable condition, officials say."It's a sad day for the Philadelphia Fire Department," said Craig Murphy, 1st Deputy Fire Commissioner. "Unfortunately our department lost a member bravely fighting a fire then caught in a building collapse."Officials say four people were initially rescued from the collapse at different times, with one jumping from the second floor to escape.Crews worked for hours to find and rescue the remaining two, and said they lost contact with them around 6:05 a.m.John DiGiulio, an official with the Philadelphia Water Department, described the scene as "100s of men and women, who risk.