'We're Mourning': Veteran Firefighter Killed In Philadelphia Building Collapse

PHILADELPHIA, PA — Philadelphia firefighters are in mourning after a 27-year veteran of the department was killed early Saturday in a building collapse.

The victim, Lt. Sean Williamson, 51, was among six emergency responders trapped when the structure at 300 W. Indiana Ave. fell following the overnight fire in the city’s Fairhill neighborhood.

“We’re absolutely grieving, we’re mourning,” Fire Commissioner Adam Thiel said during a press conference livestreamed Saturday evening on Twitter. “We have a lot more crying and a lot more processing to do.”

The deadly incident Saturday began with a report of a blaze about 2 a.m., according to authorities. Eight occupants were evacuated, but firefighters remained at the scene when the building collapsed about 3 a.m., trapping Fire Marshal Lt. Sylvester Burton, Lt. Clarence Johnson, firefighter Dennis Bailey, and licenses and inspections Supervisor Thomas Rybakowski.

“This collapse occurred very quickly with almost no warning,” Thiel said.

After the initial search and rescue effort got underway, Williamson and firefighter Robert Brennan Jr. were trapped under debris, the fire department reported. They were not removed from the rubble until around 7 a.m. Williamson was pronounced dead at the scene. Brennan, as well as Bailey, are in critical but stable condition at Temple Hospital. Burton, Johnson and Rybakowski were treated and released.

Williamson, who was described by Thiel as “one of our most experienced lieutenants,” was most recently assigned to Ladder 18 in Hunting Park. He leaves behind his mother and a son.

“This family will never be the same again,” said Mayor Jim Kenney, whose father was a firefighter, at the press conference. “They can try to heal but they’re never going to fully get over this.”

City flags will be flown at half staff for 30 days, Kenney said, adding resources and support will be made available to the injured employees.

The last Philadelphia firefighter to die during an emergency response was Capt. Matt LeTourneau, who was killed in 2018, also in connection with a building collapse, according to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.

The cause of Saturday’s incident remains under investigation. The building was last inspected in 2020 due to fire violations associated with the restaurant that previously occupied the structure, the city confirmed, noting the current occupant of the storefront did not have a food license.