Firefighters Rescue, Chicago Fire: Anniversary Of Stockyard Fire

by NowPublic Staff | December 22, 2010 at 07:19 am

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Firefighters Rescued, Fire At South Side Chicago Commercial Building | 100 Year Anniversary Of Stockyard Fire On December 22, 1910

Update Latest: Chicago Fire Department two rescued firefighters died in hospital due to injuries.

Update Two Firefighters Dead:

WGN is reporting that two of the rescued firefighters have died but it is not quoting official sources. Fourteen other Chicago firefighters were injured after a fire and a building collapse on the city's South Side.

Police squad cars escorted two ambulances north on Lake Shore Drive to Northwestern as ramps were closed to clear it of traffic, according to fire communications. One of the firefighters taken there has died, sources said. The condition of the other one was not known.

A third trapped firefighter was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he died.

Earlier Chicago Fire And Building Collapse Story

December 22nd is a sad day for Chicago, particularly its firefighters. A vacant building on Chicago's South Side caught fire and collapsed, trapping 4 firefighters and injuring others.

Dozens of firefighters were at the scene of the three-alarm fire on East 75th Street near Stony Island when part of a wall collapsed. The trapped firefighters were pulled from the rubble around 7:45 a.m.

At least three of those rescued firefighters suffered serious to critical injuries ABC news is reporting. Three of the trapped firefighters were taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, the fourth was taken to Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn

Live news footage showed dozens of firefighters frantically trying to rescue their trapped colleagues.

This latest fire comes on the anniversary of the Chicago Stockyard fire of 1910. On December 22, 100 years ago 21 Chicago firefighters died.

The fire, which broke out at Warehouse 7 of the Nelson Morris Company at the Chicago Union Stock Yards on the 4300 block of South Loomis Street, was first reported on December 22 at 4:09 am. Half an hour later it was listed as a 4-11 blaze and within a few hours, more than thirty fire engines were battling the blaze. By the time the blaze was extinguished at 6:37 am on December 23, 50 engine companies and 7 hook and ladder companies had been called to the scene.

Twenty-one firemen, including Fire Marshal James J. Horan, were killed when one of the blazing buildings collapsed with them inside. Until Sept. 11, 2001, this was the deadliest building collapse in American history in terms of firefighter fatalities, though the Texas City Disaster of 1947 killed more firefighters. It remains the worst such incident in Chicago history.