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A4 U.S. NEWS
Monday 20 June 2022
Building collapse after fire kills 1 firefighter; 5 injured

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A to protect and serve the
building caught fire and residents of this city.”
later collapsed in Philadel- The fire marshal’s office is
phia, killing one firefighter investigating the cause of
and injuring five other peo- the fire with assistance from
ple, two critically, after all the federal Bureau of Alco-
became trapped early Sat- hol, Tobacco, Firearms and
urday, authorities said. Explosives. Thiel said an en-
The fire was reported just gineering investigation into
before 2 a.m. Saturday in the collapse is also ongoing
the building in north Phila- and the federal National
delphia, eight occupants Institute for Occupational
were safely evacuated Safety & Health is also ex-
and the fire had been de- pected to do an investi-
clared under control, offi- gation, and that and the
cials said. At 3:24 a.m., the department’s own after-
building collapsed, Deputy action report are expected
Fire Commissioner Craig to take one to two years.
Murphy said. Numerous firefighters were
Lt. Sean Williamson, 51, was standing nearby as the res-
pronounced dead at the Philadelphia firefighters examine the remains of a collapsed building along the 300 block of West cue effort unfolded, and
scene after he and another Indiana Street in the Fairhill section of Philadelphia, Saturday, June 18, 2022. some were seen hugging
firefighter were freed from Associated Press or wiping tears from their
the rubble hours after the eyes, multiple news outlets
collapse. Three other fire- day evening that rescuers department funeral “and few weeks coming up.” reported.
fighters and an inspector “were able to communi- given the outpouring of Mayor Jim Kenney called Patricia Sermarini told The
with the city’s Department cate with” Williamson and support that I’ve seen and it “a heartbreaking day for Philadelphia Inquirer that
of Licenses and Inspections another firefighter for most we’ve seen as a depart- our city.” she rushed to the site when
had been freed quickly. of the several hours they ment, you can expect this “For more than 27 years, he she saw the alert about the
One firefighter jumped remained trapped, but be- to be a pretty large event.” dedicated his life to serving collapse because her son-
from the second story to cause of the degree of the “We’re absolutely grieving, and protecting the people in-law, a firefighter, was
avoid being caught in the collapse and where Wil- we’re mourning,” Thiel said. of Philadelphia, and sacri- on the morning shift. She
collapse, Murphy said. Two liamson was located within “We have a lot more cry- ficed his life protecting oth- said he had been one of
firefighters were listed in the structure “we were not ing and a lot more process- ers,” Kenney’s statement the firefighters on scene
critical but stable condition able to save him.” ing to do this unfolds as we said. “Early this morning, like but had made it out of the
at Temple University Hos- The former Marine was move forward with proper- every day, he exemplified building just before it col-
pital while the other three “highly respected through- ly honoring Lt. Williamson,” heroism by doing what our lapsed.
victims were treated and out our department” and he said. Murphy had told first responders do every But moments later, Serma-
released, officials said. had trained “countless” ca- reporters at a briefing at day: put on their uniform, rini said, she saw firefighters
Fire Commissioner Adam dets, Thiel said. Williamson is about 8 a.m. Saturday that: leave their loved ones, and pull a body out from the
Thiel told reporters Satur- to have a “full honors” fire “It’s going to be a rough carry out their sworn duty rubble.q

Apple workers vote to unionize at

Maryland store

Saturday. Apple declined organize a union. The state- at the Towson location.
to comment on Saturday’s ment said their driving mo- It remained unclear what
development, company tivation was to seek “rights steps would follow the
spokesperson Josh Lipton we do not currently have.” vote in Towson. Labor ex-
told The Associated Press It added that the workers perts say it’s common for
by phone. had recently organized in employers to drag out the
Union organizing in a va- the Coalition of Organized bargaining process in an
riety of fields has gained Retail Employees, or CORE. effort to take the wind out
momentum recently after “I applaud the courage of union campaigns.
The Apple logo adorns the facade of a retail store. decades of decline in U.S. displayed by CORE mem- The IAM bills itself as one
Associated Press union membership. Or- bers at the Apple store in of the largest and most di-
ganizers have worked to Towson for achieving this verse industrial trade unions
TOWSON, Md. (AP) — Ap- International Association of establish unions at com- historic victory,” said IAM in North America, repre-
ple store employees in a Machinists and Aerospace panies including Amazon, International President Rob- senting approximately
Baltimore suburb voted to Workers, the union’s an- Starbucks, outdoors retail- ert Martinez Jr. in the state- 600,000 active and retired
unionize by a nearly 2-to-1 nouncement said. The vote er REI and Google parent ment. “They made a huge members in the aerospace,
margin Saturday, a union could not immediately be company Alphabet. sacrifice for thousands of defense, airlines, railroad,
said, joining a growing push confirmed with the Nation- The International Asso- Apple employees across transit, healthcare, auto-
across U.S. retail, service al Labor Relations Board, ciation of Machinists and the nation who had all eyes motive, and other indus-
and tech industries to orga- which would have to cer- Aerospace Workers and on this election.” tries.
nize for greater workplace tify the outcome. An NLRB the Apple employees who Martinez called on Apple The Apple store unioniza-
protections. spokesperson referred ini- wanted to join said they to respect the election re- tion comes against a back-
The Apple retail workers in tial queries about the vote had sent Apple CEO Tim sults and to let the union- drop of other labor organiz-
Towson, Maryland, voted to the board’s regional of- Cook notice last month izing employees fast-track ing nationwide — some of
65-33 to seek entry into the fice, which was closed late that they were seeking to efforts to secure a contract them rebuffed.q