Firefighter Philip Biel of Engine Co. 4 died in 1911, the exact date is unknown. He was riding on the horse drawn Engine Co. 4 to a false alarm in South Scranton. The apparatus turned a corner and Biel was struck by a ladder that shifted, throwing him into a service pole. Biel suffered a fractured skull and died. 

Due to a limited amount of information from this time period, an exact account of the incident could not be found.  However, in the newspaper articles of the Firefighter Thomas and Lieutenant Flaherty incidents there is a recollection of prior line of duty deaths and Firefighter Biel is mentioned.

(Courtesy of Mark Boock Collection)