One dead, one critical in fall from apartment

After a man died and a woman was critically injured in a fall early this morning from a fourth-floor fire escape, code enforcement officials have evacuated the building and shut down a popular Belgian restaurant on the first floor.

An iron-wrought railing gave way from the ivy-covered brick fire tower about 3 a.m. today as a 25-year-old man who lived in an apartment one floor below and a female friend were leaning on it, authorities said.

The man was pronounced dead at the scene and the woman was taken to Hahnemann Hospital, police said. Directly below the fire tower is a narrow alley and a fence enclosing the back of a spa next door.

The man's identitiy was being withheld pending notification of next of kin. The woman was not identified because she was in critical condition, police said.

The apartments are located above Monk's Cafe, 264 S. 16th Street. Scott Mulderig, chief of the city's Emergency Services & Abatement Unit, said all 13 tenants will be moved elsewhere and the bar will be closed until the owner corrects structural problems and code violations.

City records do not specify the name of the building's owner.

Tenants, bar staff, and the owner are scheduled to meet at 11 a.m. Friday to discuss the building's problems, but Mulderig said he expects the necessary changes to the building to take at least two weeks.

The structural problems include loose railings on the other floors of the tower and deteriorating concrete ledges, like the one from which the man and woman fell, Mulderig said.

Outstanding code violations identified in September 2008 included a lack of exit signs, he added. Additionally, inspectors are requesting proof that the fire alarm system was re-certified earlier this month.

The 13 tenants had to move out of the apartment by 5 p.m. yesterday, and all but one had friends or relatives to stay with, Mulderig said. The remaining tenant would be moved to another of the owner's properties at 21st and Spring Garden streets, pending inspection of that building.

After word was passed down of Monk's indefinite closure, an employee began removing bottles from the window that boast the establishment's wide beer selection. For at least a week or two, lovers of mussels and frites will have to look elsewhere.

Ralph Fisher, 60, who lives on the building's third floor, said the fire tower was a popular place to smoke.

"I don't think they were doing anything stupid, just hanging out" he said.

Fisher said he is an organist on the weekends and had arrived back from a Sunday morning church service when he heard the news.

"The guy who died is my next-door neighbor and I didn't even know about it," he said.

Contact staff writer Matthew Spolar at 856-779-3829 or mspolar@phillynews.com.