A veteran firefighter was killed in a weekend fire that injured seven others in Upper Darby’s Drexel Hill neighborhood, officials said. The fire started on Saturday, Dec. 20, around 11 a.m., on the second floor of an apartment building along the 3200 block of Township Line Road. One of the r esidents, Raymond Erwin, told NBC10 that he, his girlfriend, their dog, and a few neighbors — including children — were desperately trying to escape from the second floor but couldn’t see through the thick smoke. “That point we were all kind of panicking, and we just ran back to one of our neighbors’ apartments,” Erwin said. “We closed the door and we went to the deck from there. We just kind of waited to see how they were going to extract us out of here and get us down with the ladders.” Responding firefighters were able to bring the flames under control. The fire caused significant damage to apartments on the second and third floors, officials said. A photo of Tony Rowley. Credit: Lansdowne Fire Company  Tony Rowley, 58, was killed in the fire while seven others – including his wife and another firefighter — were injured, officials said. Around 75 people were also displaced. Officials said six of the surviving victims suffered non-life-threatening injuries while a seventh victim was placed in critical condition. A spokesperson for the Lansdowne Fire Company also said Rowley’s wife suffered serious injuries. Rowley was a longtime member of the Lansdowne Fire Company and had also served as Vice President and Ambulance Lieutenant. The spokesperson wrote that Rowley had recently dealt with medical issues. Officials have not yet revealed the cause of the fire. The Red Cross, Salvation Army, Delaware County Emergency Services and other support groups have assisted the displaced residents. ...read more read less