Three firefighters died Thursday while battling two different blazes in Pennsylvania and New York.
In York, Pennsylvania, two firefighters were killed when a building partially collapsed while they were inside, the city’s mayor, Michael Helfrich, said during a news conference.
On Thursday around 4 p.m., Ivan Flanscha and Zach Anthony, along with two other firefighters, had been working to address hot spots around what’s known as the Weaver Organ and Piano Building, which had caught fire Wednesday. While the four of them were working, the building partially collapsed and trapped them inside.
Flanscha and Anthony were transported to York Hospital, where they were pronounced dead. The other two firefighters are in stable condition with non-life-threatening injuries, Helfrich said.
On Thursday night, a New York City firefighter died while battling a five-alarm fire in Harlem.
Michael Davidson, 37, died of injuries while fighting a fire that broke out in the cellar of a building, which was unoccupied at the time, Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said in a press conference.
The building, which was built in 1920, had been used earlier to film a movie, authorities said.
The fire spread rapidly and continued to advance, forcing firefighters to back out of the building. During that time, Davidson got separated from the rest of the unit, Nigro said.
After searching for him, Davidson was found unconscious. Despite efforts by firefighters, EMS and the hospital, they were unable to revive him.
Davidson had served with the FDNY for 15 years and was cited for bravery on four separate occasions, according to the fire department’s Facebook post. He is survived by his wife and four children. Davidson’s father is a retired firefighter and had also worked in the same fire house, Nigro said.
Two other firefighters were seriously injured with burns and taken to the Cornell Burn Center; others had less serious injuries, Nigro said.
Prior to Thursday, the US Fire Administration had reported a total of 13 on-duty firefighter deaths nationwide this year.