Published March 22. 2018 09:26PM
YORK, Pa. (AP) — Officials have confirmed that one firefighter has died and four others have been seriously injured in the partial collapse of a former piano factory in Pennsylvania.
Republican state Rep. Kristin Phillips-Hill confirmed the death in a Facebook post Thursday, saying the four other responders are “fighting for their lives” at a hospital.
York officials say part of the four-story building fell on firefighters as they were looking for hot spots and investigating the cause of a fire that broke out Wednesday at the Weaver Organ and Piano factory. The factory was being converted into residential units.
The county coroner’s office later identified the firefighter who died as 50-year-old Ivan Flanscha, a veteran of the city fire department.
Firefighters work the scene of a fire that started Wednesday in York, Pa., Thursday, March 22, 2018. York officials said part of the four-story building fell on firefighters as they were looking for hot spots and investigating the cause of the fire that broke out Wednesday at the Weaver Organ and Piano factory. (John A. Pavoncello/York Dispatch via AP)
Rescue personnel tend to a fellow firefighter after a wall collapse at the scene of a fire in York, Pa., Thursday, March 22, 2018. York officials said part of the four-story building fell on firefighters as they were looking for hot spots and investigating the cause of the fire that broke out Wednesday at the Weaver Organ and Piano factory. (John A. Pavoncello/York Dispatch via AP)