PHILADELPHIA — Heaps of bricks, twisted metal and splintered wood spilled across West Indiana Avenue and Third Street in Fairhill on Sunday morning, the battered sign for Star Pizza & Seafood jutting from the rubble.
What caused the fire in the mixed-use building and what ultimately led to its collapse early Saturday — killing Lt. Sean Williamson, injuring four other firefighters and a city building inspector and displacing 11 residents — could take a week or more to uncover, fire marshals said.
“This will be painfully slow: a systematic effort, piece by piece,” Fire Marshal Battalion Chief Christopher Beale said at the scene Sunday morning. Officials will examine all possible ignition sources and rule out possible causes, one by one. For now, “They’re all on the table.”
