UPDATE: Fireground audio added. Two Philadelphia firefighters killed at 5-alarm fire this morning. Three others hurt. Crew trapped in collapse at exposure building.
UPDATE:
Here are some details from the press conference held shortly after 9:00 this morning. The two firefighters killed have only been identified so far as a 60-year-old male and a 25-year-old male. According to Philadelphia Fire Department officials, the fire was reported under control about 5:30 AM but the crew from Ladder 10 and an engine company were working in a furniture store adjacent to the original fire building dealing with extension. At 5:50 AM there was a collapse of the rear and side wall that trapped five firefighters. One of the firefighters was able to walk out on his own, the rest had to be rescued or recovered by fellow firefighters. One of the injured firefighters has been admitted to the hospital. The other two are being evaluated.
Image above of rescue operation by Bill Rohrer of Newsworking.
EARLIER:
A five-alarm fire in Philadelphia has taken the lives of two firefighters. PhillyFireNews.com‘s Ron Trout reports the fire was originally reported as a rubbish fire at York Street and Jasper Street, but Engine 2 arrived to find multiple large buildings burning. Below is fireground audio.
Here’s some of the news coverage:
Two Philadelphia firefighters have been killed while battling a massive warehouse fire in Kensington early Monday morning. Two other firefighters were rushed to the hospital in critical condition.
The firefighters were trapped in a collapse at the furniture store that started burning after embers from the warehouse at East York and Jasper Streets set a fire.
The firefighters who died were assigned to Ladder 10, officials said.
Flames spread to at least six other structures, including the furniture store at Boston Street and Kensington Avenue, said Deputy Fire Commissioner Ernest Hargett.
Ron Trout photo from PhillyFireNews.com. Click here for more pictures.
Action News has learned that two firefighters were killed and two others injured while battling a 5-alarm warehouse fire in Kensington Monday morning.
The four firefighters were inside a furniture store at the intersection of Kensington Avenue and E Boston Street, which had caught fire as the result of embers coming from the burning warehouse, located adjacent to the store.
The fire went to five alarms early Monday morning at York and Jasper streets and collapsed two walls of the six-story abandoned structure.
(Reporter Sean) Tobin reported that five firefighters were trapped at about 6:30 a.m. A rescue team was sent in, and three of the fighters were rescued alive.
