QUEEN VILLAGE – April 6, 2013 (WPVI) — A Philadelphia fire captain was killed and another firefighter was injured in a 3-alarm fire at a fabric building in Queen Village.

The flames broke out around 6:00 Saturday night on the 700 block of South 4th Street and spread to several row homes.

Heavy smoke filled the area and could be seen from miles away. Several people were evacuated.

Philadelphia firefighters had to rescue one of their own who was trapped in the debris.

Firefighters stood side by side and saluted 53-year-old Captain Michael Goodwin from Ladder 27b. He was killed in a fall from the third floor roof to the second.

The fire roared out of control for hours from the three story building on the stretch known as “Fabric Row.”

Neighbors say the fire started in the basement of a business called Jack B Fabrics and spread to other parts of the business and apartments upstairs.

Another firefighter 28-year-old Andrew Godlinski, suffered burns while trying to save his fallen captain. He was treated at a local hospital and is expected to survive.

The fire forced several residential evacuations and sent several blocks into darkness.

At one point PECO reported more than 300 customers without power as firefighters worked to contain the blaze but service has since been restored.

The Red Cross is assisting at least 17 people. Anyone affected can go to the Nebinger School at 6th and Carpenter streets for assistance.

Captain Goodwin, a 29 year veteran of the department, leaves behind a wife and two children.

He also has a brother who works as a Philadelphia police officer.

Fire Commissioner Lloyd Ayers described Goodwin as “a really good person, a friend of mine.”

Nearly a year ago on April 9, Philadelphia firefighters mourned the loss of Lt. Robert Neary and Firefighter Daniel Sweeney, who were killed battled a 5-alarm warehouse fire in Kensington.

Mayor Michael Nutter has ordered flags to be at half staff for the next 30 days in honor of the fallen hero.

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/local&id=9055293

– Kudos to City Councilman Bob Henon for once again taking the back of working men and women across Philadelphia as his Proposed Ordinance on Construction Contractor Licensing and 1099 Employees Passed yesterday Unanimously in City Council Committee. This ordinance, if adopted, would prevent certain construction contractors from undermining legitimate contractors and circumventing fair wages while at the same time exploiting their employees as well as the City of Philadelphia.

Next Step – Getting it Overwhelming Passed and adopted by a full vote of the City Council!

We will keep you posted!

SEAN COLLINS WALSH, Daily News Staff Writer walshSE@phillynews.com, 215-854-4172

NEED A REASON to drink? How about improving the futures of Philadelphia’s schoolkids?

Mayor Nutter and City Council are rarely on the same page these days, but the possibility of increasing the “liquor-by-the-drink” tax to help pay for the School Reform Commission’s request for $60 million seems to be gaining traction on both sides.

City Council President Darrell Clarke has pledged support for increasing the tax, which now adds 10 percent to your bar tab (on top of the sales tax) and sends it to the schools. Nutter said Thursday that increasing the tax by half (to 15 percent per drink) an option his administration is considering.

In 1994, then-Councilman Nutter voted in favor of creating the tax, which now brings in more than $45 million per year.

“President Clarke and I have talked about that and I am certainly interested in that kind of proposal, but my track record on that one is pretty clear,” Nutter said. The 1994 bill “was a tough vote for a lot of folks but I thought it was the right thing to do then and it’s certainly something that we should explore now.”

Clarke spokeswoman Jane Roh wrote in an email that the Council president “supports increasing this tax to bolster an annualized revenue stream for the schools.”

Pat Conway, president of the Pennsylvania Restaurant and Lodging Association, said that while businesses don’t like the tax, it’s the customers who usually absorb its cost.

“It would be a tough pill to swallow for restaurants and taverns and for the entire hospitality industry, but it’s actually more of a consumer issue,” Conway said.

Increasing the tax is no silver-bullet cocktail shaker for fully funding the schools’ request, so Council and the mayor would have to find money in other places to reach the $60 million the schools say they need to plug their enormous budget gap.

Nutter supports funding the request but has been elusive as to how he wants to get that done. On Thursday he addressed criticism that his administration hasn’t yet presented a plan, saying he wants to first develop one with Council.

“We don’t have a plan today and we certainly don’t have all the answers today, and we don’t have to have a plan and all the answers today. Our budget process, at least under the charter, is completed by the end of May,” he said.

Some in Council, including Clarke, have not committed to providing the full $60 million, arguing that after two years of city property-tax hikes for the schools, it’s Harrisburg’s turn.

Nutter, however, said Thursday that he thinks Philly needs to show its commitment first to get more money out of the state.

“It would put us at that much worse of a situation from a discussion or negotiation standpoint to somehow seek additional funding from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania . . . while some might suggest that the city would not be putting dollars on the table,” he said. “I have to reject that kind of strategy.”

– PHILLYLABOR.COM Editorial – It’s hard enough for establishments to make ends meet with the current 10% liquor sales tax, if the city adds another 5% or 10% on top of that, without exaggeration, establishments will be dropping like flies and jobs will be lost by the thousands both in bars and restaurants.

This would be the Nutter Administration devastating another industry, The Hospitality Industry.

– The Practice of employers signing up individual construction workers/employees as independent contractors and providing them with an IRS Form 1099 at the end of the year allows certain employers to undermine legitimate contractors and circumvent fair wages while at the same time exploiting their employees as well as the City of Philadelphia. This ordinance proposed by Councilman Henon would rectify further such injustices.

On April 27th at 10 AM, USW 10-1 is doing a park clean up at the Elmwood Park Labor Monument located at Elmwood Ave Park at 71st and Buist Aves in Southwest Philly.

This is in Prep for the May Day Celebration taking place on May 1st. All Are Welcome To Come Out and Help As We’d Appreciate All the Help We Can Get!

Supplies, Food and Drink Provided.