Rolando Cortes, 55, who has lived in the neighborhood since the 1980s and said he and his wife sometimes order pizza from the store, said he arrived at the intersection around 7.30am and found rescuers on the train to remove the body of the deceased firefighter. .
“They put a flag on him and carried him on a stretcher,” he said. Twenty minutes later they brought out another firefighter, who was still alive, he said.
Agencies that responded also included the Philadelphia Office of Emergency Management, energy company PECO and the American Red Cross.
In a statement on TwitterMayor Jim Kenney said he was in mourning with members of the fire department and all city government employees “who lost one of our own in the line of duty today.”
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