Joyce Craig Lewis firefighter - An 11-year veteran of the Philadelphia Fire Department has been confirmed dead after she got stuck in the basement of a home at Middleton Street, West Oak Lane, where she was responding to a fire outbreak on Tuesday morning.
Firefighter Joyce Craig Lewis, who was one of only 150 females in the state's fire department, has been described as a "firefighter's firefighter."
Philadelphia Fire Commissioner Derrick Sawyer explained that firefighter Joyce Craig Lewis may have died from the 'chimney effect' of the basement fire.
"When a fire is in a basement there is a chimney effect. So when the fire is in the basement and you're running down into the basement to put the fire out, the heat and smoke is coming up those steps. So you're running down a chimney," Sawyer explained.
Reports indicate that the firefighters, who responded to the Middleton Street fire on Tuesday, were asked to retreat from the home due to thick smoke. It was only after her colleagues had retreated that they realized she was absent.
Despite finding Joyce Craig Lewis shortly afterwards and administering CPR to her, she was pronounced dead at the Albert Einstein Medical Center.
The President of the Firefighter's Union Joe Schulle has said that she may have died from a 'flashover.' A flashover occurs when an entire room erupts into flames spontaneously; the temperature soars and it become virtually impossible to see, he explained.
Colleagues say firefighter Joyce Craig Lewis was stationed at Engine 64. However, she was working overtime at West Oak Lane's Engine 73 and had been attempting to rescue an elderly resident of the burning house when she died. The elderly woman she was attempting to rescue was saved by her colleagues. She is reportedly lodging with neighbors.
An investigation has been opened into the death of firefighter Joyce Craig Lewis. Her equipments have reportedly been gathered and sent to the National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health for analysis.
"We're going to obviously assume that the equipment is functioning properly, but it's impossible to say what happened exactly at that moment until there's a full investigation," Mayor Michael Nutter, who had lots of praises for the late firefighter Joyce Craig Lewis, said.
As a firefighter, Joyce Craig Lewis has been honored by fellow firefighters across the state. Engine 64 has reportedly been put out of service and is being prepared to carry her in procession. Meanwhile, local sources say firefighters prayed for their late colleague outside Engine 64 at Lawncrest on Tuesday night.
Firefighter Joyce Craig Lewis, who has been properly described as a hero, is survived by two children; a 16-month-old daughter and a 16-years-old son.
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