Incident
Police Officer Jacob Albright was killed when he was caught in the second collapse of a double four-storied brick building on North Third Street between Callowhill Street and Wood Street.
He and another officer were attempting to rescue Officer Hiram Hammer who was caught in the first collapse of the building while attempting to rescue civilians who were caught in the fire. During the attempted rescue they were caught in the second collapse of the building. As a result, a large piece of burning timber fell on top of Officer Albright's legs pinning him.
Once Officer Albright was rescued he was taken to his residence on Duke Street (present-day Thompson Street) and was treated by doctors. He succumbed to his injuries at his home four days later. Officer Hammer's body was discovered the next morning after the fire.
Officer Albright was assigned to the Northern Liberties Division.
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BO-US-PA-CDAFA3A5- Stewardship
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- Added to badge.nw
- April 2, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
173 years is a long time for a name to go unread. Not today.
Police Officer Albright 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 Jacob Albright 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. Jacob Albright's cause is highlighted.
How Jacob Albright Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Jacob Albright is highlighted in Dec.
Incident Location
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