A 19 year old Sharon Hill Firefighter remains in very critical condition with burns and related traumatic injuries after being struck and trapped by the exterior collapse of a garage at a fire call last night. Initially the cops arrived confirming a working fire in a detached 3 car garage. Companies arrived and went with an exterior attack using 1-3/4" hand lines. While they were operating, there was a outward collapse of a wall. The Chief estimated that they were about 8 feet outside of the building when the front of the structure collapsed.
1 FF (who was hit by a steel crossbeam when the structure collapsed) was transported in cardiac arrest (he is the one who is critical at this time) and another Firefighter was transported with a serious leg injury. A total of 4 Firefighters and 2 Police Officers were injured either from the collapse or the effort to rescue the Firefighters who were trapped. The cops were transported for burns to the hands from their helping with the Firefighter rescue effort. All trapped and injured members were removed within 6 minutes. The fire began in the garage at the 900 block of Coates Street, where a man had lit a candle while working on a motorcycle
More details to follow. Please keep the kid, his family and the members of Sharon Hill Fire Company in your thoughts and prayers.
Stay Strong Brothers......