Roll of Honor
Incident
Police Officer William Baker was killed while assisting at the scene of a large fire at the intersection of 6th Street and Chestnut Street. Officer Baker was attempting to rescue several people and remove property from a burning building when a portion of it collapsed, trapping them inside.
The remains of Officer Baker and a prominent citizen were recovered the following day.
Officer Baker was survived by his wife. He is buried in Saint John the Evangelist Church Cemetery in Philadelphia.
Survivors
Officer Baker was survived by his wife.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-PA-F3D08506- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- April 2, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
175 years is a long time for a name to go unread. Not today.
Police Officer Baker served with the Philadelphia Police Department.
Thank you for your service to the Philadelphia community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Police Officer William Baker is one of 10,088 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In PA, 417 of 1,261 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 33.1% of this state's fallen. That is 2.1 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.
At Philadelphia Police Department, 110 of 378 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 29.1% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. William Baker's cause is highlighted.
How William Baker Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. William Baker is highlighted in Dec.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
377 officers from Philadelphia Police Department are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
