CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) - Another Chicago firefighter has died in the line of duty, the second in as many days, after crews battled a three-alarm high-rise fire in the Gold Coast.
Fire Commissioner Annette Nance-Holt announced the death of Lieutenant Jan Tchoryk, 55, a 26-year member of the department.
Authorities said firefighters were called to the apartment building on inner Lakeshore Drive and Division at around 7:15 a.m. The fire originated on the 27th floor in a large apartment unit and quickly escalated to a two-alarm fire, Holt noted. Tohoryk, leading one of the responding crews, Ladder Tower 10, was making his way up to the fire. He had to take the stairs due to an elevator outage in the building. It was then when he “went down,” on the 11th floor, according to Holt.
Crews immediately performed CPR on Tohoryk and he was rushed to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where first responders continued resuscitation efforts, but he succumbed to his injuries.
The fire eventually resulted in a three-alarm response.
This marks the second straight day that a Chicago firefighter has died while battling a fire, an unprecedented occurrence, the fire commissioner said. Tuesday, veteran firefighter Jermaine Pelt died while responding to a house fire on the Far South Side.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot joined fire personnel at a morning press conference, offering her condolences and sympathies to Tohoryk’s family as well as an already grief stricken department.
“Our men and women who are first responders in the city are heroic. They are brave, every single day they put their lives on the line for us. They deserve our unending thanks and support, not just on a tragic day like this, but every single day,” Lightfoot said.
Holt said it is impossible right now to explain the department's two deaths.
“I think we train every day to do our very best, unfortunately sometimes when you get to situations, fires are unpredictable. You can’t figure out what’s going to happen at a fire. So, I don’t think to monday morning quarterback right now is it…Right now, I have two funerals to prepare for, two grieving families and a huge department that’s broken, including a command staff,” Holt said.
Three other firefighters suffered injures and were transported to the hospital, their conditions ranging from fair to serious. Two residents were sent to the hospital, described to be in good condition.
Fire officials announced a little after 9:30 a.m. that the main body of the fire had been extinguished.
It is not yet known if any residents were injured in the fire.
The CFD noted the building's 27th floor, where the fire began, did not have a sprinkler system. The cause of fire remains under investigation.
Lieutenant Tchoryk was an avid outdoorsman and motorcycle enthusiast who had a son recently become a Chicago police officer, the commissioner said.
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