August 31, 2006 Issue                                       

©2006 The Chestnut Hill Local

Floor collapse sends two workers to hospital
by JENNIFER KATZ

Workers were injured while doing demolition work to the last of two structures at the intersection of East Phil Ellena and Musgrave streets. A church on the corner was previously demolished. (Photo by Jennifer Katz)

Two teenage workers were injured during the demolition of a building in East Mount Airy on August 23. Daniel Williams, 18, and Calvin Teachey, 19, both of North Philadelphia, were reportedly trapped under bricks and rubble after falling through the floor on the first level of the house 15 feet into the basement. The medic unit of the fire department transported the two men to Albert Einstein Medical Center in Olney. Teachey was treated and released the same day, according to hospital spokesman Steve Gary. Williams was also treated and released that day, said Gary.

At approximately 3:12 p.m., police from the 14th district and fire fighters from Engine 29 responded to 135 East Phil Ellena Street where they found the two workers trapped in the cellar of the three-story row home. Battalion Chief William Dell said the men fell after the roof and wall collapsed.

Neighbors of the construction site said they had noticed many young men working at the site over the past few weeks and were not surprised by the accident.

“They weren’t old enough to be doing that kind of work,” said one resident of the 100 block of East Phil Ellena Street, who asked not to be identified. “And you know they didn’t know what they were doing because they were on the inside of the house instead of the outside. Nobody tears a house down from the inside.”

Another local resident said that a man from the crew approached him about working on the house, offering him $7 an hour.

“I know that workers who are skilled at that kind of thing make a lot more than that,” said the second man, who also asked not to be identified.

Both men said they could often smell marijuana at the corner where the work was being done.

A female homeowner on the block said she spoke to one of the workers just after the collapse. He told her he was 15-years-old and that one of his co-workers was as young as 11, she said.

“It’s that they had young children working down there that bothers us,” said the woman, who asked that her name not be used.

Neighbors and witnesses are only part of those associated with the incident expressing concern over commenting publicly on the situation.

According to property records, F&M Realty of Brooklyn, N.Y. paid $85,000 for the house in March 2006. Attempts to contact F&M were unsuccessful at press time.

According to sources at Inner City Construction Inc. of North Philadelphia, the company applied for both a demolition permit and a zoning permit to change the zoning on the property from residential to vacant and performed work at the site. However, the sources claimed that their work on the site was completed two weeks prior to the incident and that they have a letter to that effect that has been forwarded to officials investigating the incident.

The same sources at the construction company said the building’s owner, Bernard Fischman, of Brooklyn, N.Y., is responsible for any subsequent events at the site. Fischman, who also owns a paint company, Boston Paint Inc., did not return repeated calls as of press time.

Another man was also named owner of the house by the owner of the dumpsters company that rented large trash removal containers to the site. According to AJ Crumbley of AJ Crumbley Enterprises in North Philadelphia, Joe Meisel of Brooklyn called in to reserve the containers using a personal credit card. Calls to Meisel were also unreturned at time of press.

Both companies said officials from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration contacted them. OSHA spokesmen Leni Uddyback-Fortson said OSHA initiated an investigation based on media reports. Uddyback-Fortson said she could not comment on the investigation until it is officially concluded. The office has six months by law to finish the investigation, she said.

Contact staff writer Jennifer Katz at 215-248-8804 or jenn@chestnuthilllocal.com.