William C. Richmond, who was Philadelphia’s fire commissioner during the 1985 MOVE bombing, died Monday, June 25, at home. He was 86.
A death notice posted by his family did not provide a cause.
Mr. Richmond was a Korean War veteran and served as a Philadelphia police officer for two years before beginning a 28-year career at the Fire Department, rising from firefighter to commissioner, a position he held from 1984 to 1988.
Mr. Richmond was fire commissioner during the May 1985 siege of the fortified MOVE compound on Osage Avenue that ended after officials dropped a satchel bomb on a rooftop bunker, sparking a fire that killed 11 people in the house, including MOVE founder John Africa and five children, and destroyed 61 homes.