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Man begins high-rise fire, dies in fall

Smoke billows from the Philadelphia apartment building.
Smoke billows from the Philadelphia apartment building.

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PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (CNN) -- A man began a fire on two floors of a high-rise apartment complex Wednesday before plunging to his death, Philadelphia police told CNN.

Fire officials said there were no known fatalities or injuries from the fire itself.

Sgt. Roland Lee of the Philadelphia Police Department said police received a call at 9:25 a.m. that a man was "holed up" in an apartment "armed with a sword on the 25th floor of the apartment building."

Lee said authorities did not have any indication anyone else was with the man.

"As police came in, the man started to toss furniture out of the apartment onto the sidewalk. At that point in time he jumped from ledge to ledge from the 25th floor to the 24th floor, where he started another fire," Lee said.

The man, who was not identified, then attempted to jump down to the 23rd floor, Lee said. Instead, he fell all the way to an overhang above the ground-floor entrance.

Lee said the believed the fall was an accident, though he said officials were not sure.

"He was dead on the scene," Lee said.

Susan Pauls, who witnessed the incident, said the man "hit several balconies on his way down."

She said she saw officials place his body in a body bag. "It was so horrible."

Fire Chief William Brightcliffe said the fire started at about 10 a.m., and a second alarm was sounded about 30 minutes later.

Thick black smoke was pouring from several apartments on three levels around the 24th floor. Firefighters could be seen spraying hoses and the smoke cleared up quickly.

The building was evacuated but later people were allowed back in.

Pauls said that "they've let people go back up to their apartments" if their apartments are below where the fire occurred. They have to take the stairs, she said.

The 35-story Hopkinson House is on Washington Square in the center of the city. It was built in 1962 and contains 536 units, according to its Web site.



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