VIDEO – Philadelphia Firefighter Dies in Building Collapse: ‘Catastrophic Accident’

A Philadelphia firefighter died Saturday when a building collapsed, and several others were sent to a hospital after being extracted from the debris.

Emergency crews arrived at the 300 block of West Indiana Avenue at approximately 2:00 a.m. in response to a fire at a restaurant and residential building, according to ABC 6.

Officials quelled the blaze. The family was not hurt; however, a few minutes before 3:30 a.m., the building collapsed while five members of the fire department’s crew, along with an L&I inspector, remained inside.

“Four firefighters and an L&I Inspector were pulled from the rubble and transported to Temple Hospital. Unfortunately, one Philadelphia firefighter died in the collapse,” the outlet said.

In a social media post early Saturday, the Philadelphia Fire Department posted a photo of the scene showing crew members standing in front of what remained of the building:

“This morning, there was a building collapse during a fire response at 300 W. Indiana St in Fairhill which resulted in several firefighters and an L&I inspector trapped. So far, several were rescued and transported to hospitals. Work continues to free others,” the department said.

In an update a few hours later, the department wrote, “PFD continued work to rescue 2 trapped members from the collapse at 300 W. Indiana St. 1 member was transported to the hospital.”

“The other, a 27-year veteran, was pronounced at the scene. Our thoughts are with his friends, family, and fellow PFD along with all affected,” the agency continued:

Per the ABC 6 report, the incident was being actively investigated.

Meanwhile, Deputy Fire Commissioner Craig Murphy said that those rescued were believed to be in stable condition and that the inspector had already been released, the Associated Press (AP) reported.

Firefighters at the scene hugged one another and were clearly emotional about what transpired.

“You can’t predict this,” Murphy told reporters, adding, “This was just a catastrophic accident that has really hurt our department.”