Injured firefighter’s condition upgraded

The firefighter injured in an early morning blaze in Roxborough this weekend will soon be out of the intensive care unit.While responding to the call for a fire at the Abbey House apartments on Domino Lane Saturday, the firefighter was struck by a ladder truck, sending him to Albert Einstein Medical Center’s intensive care unit.”He’s resting comfortably,” Philadelphia Fire Department Supervisor Tom Honeyford said of the firefighter. “He’s soon to be moved out of the intensive care unit.”Though Honeyford was uncertain about the timeline of the move, he added he’s reasonably certain the firefighter would leave the ICU Sunday night, with his family and friends there to help him recover.The blaze displaced 21 families in the Abbey House apartments, who were temporarily housed in nearby Shawmont School with the help of the Red Cross.  But by 3 p.m. Saturday, all the residents had found a place to stay.”We went back out to the scene [Sunday] morning,” Red Cross Director of Communications Dave Schrader said. The Red Cross was there to assist residents who weren’t home during the fire, and who were coming to assess the damage.”Twenty-nine people [Saturday] were given financial assistance,” Schrader noted. “But everyone had a place to stay.” Financial assistance includes things like food and clothing. After the 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. emergency shelter at Shawmont, all of Abbey House’s displaced residents had found another place to go until the damage to their homes can be further assessed.Honeyford said he wasn’t clear on the re-admittance timeline, but Monday will bring a better sense of when Abbey House residents can begin to return home.