CHICAGO — A firefighter has died and three others were injured at an extra-alarm blaze at a high-rise building on DuSable Lake Shore Drive in the Gold Coast neighborhood, officials said.
It marks the second firefighter to die in two days during a blaze.
At about 8 a.m., a 2-11 alarm was called at the building on the 1200 block of North DuSable Lake Shore Drive and a “mayday” alert and 3-11 were activated when the firefighter, Lt. Jan Tchoryk, 55, “went down” as he worked the fire scene, Fire Commissioner Annette Nance-Holt said.
“He was making his way up to the fire floor - they had to take the stairs because the elevators were out,” Nance-Holt said, adding it happened on the 11th floor.
Among the many crews responding was Tower Ladder 10, led by Tchoryk.
“The wind didn’t help up,” said Nance-Holt of the firefighting efforts. “The wind drew the fire.”
Nance-Holt said it was not immediately known what caused Tchoryk’s death.
He has been with the Chicago Fire Department for about 25 years. He served in Desert Storm and had a big family. His son is a rookie Chicago police officer. “He was an active outdoorsman, a motorcyclist and a navy veteran,” Nance-Holt said.
Three other firefighters and two civilians were also injured.
“I wish I could say it was a good morning for us,” Nance-Holt said. “This has been a tragic week for us, unprecedented.
“I can’t tell you how this impacts us, losing two members in two days,” Nance-Holt said. “As I said yesterday, this job is dangerous. You never know if you’re coming home despite the training and the equipment that we can provide.”
Tchoryk was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital after he was taken to the lobby, where paramedics tried to treat him, officials said.
As of 8:45 a.m., all firefighters at the scene were accounted for.
By 9:30 a.m., the main body of the fire had been put out and officials confirmed it was confined to one large apartment on the 27th floor, which did not have sprinklers.
The building, which was built in 1970, has 35 floors, according to online information.
Records from the Chicago Department of Buildings show that the Gold Coast high-rise was cited last year for allowing bushes and shrubbery to obstruct an exterior firehose connection.
Ald. Timmy Knudsen, 43rd, was present at the fire as it was being put out in 1212 S. Lake Shore Drive. Knudsen applauded the fire department’s swift response that was able to put out the fire in about two hours.
Knudsen said he was working with the Gold Coast Neighborhood Association to provide temporary housing and resources for those affected.
He added that he was concered for neighbors, and asked for them to stay away from the fire to avoid breathing in smoke, a hazard that could be worse for the neighborhoods elederly residents.
The high-rise blaze was the second serious fire in two days. On Tuesday, 49-year-old firefighter Jermaine Pelt died in a West Pullman extra-alarm fire. Pelt served the Roseland neighborhood for 18 years as a member of Engine 75.
Pelt, who walked his daughter down the aisle at her wedding last fall, was called about 3:30 a.m. to a frame house at 12015 S. Wallace St., where a heavy fire was on the second floor and in the attic.
Officials said the fire spread to homes north and south of the building and Pelt, a Corliss High School graduate who attended Olive-Harvey College, went down on a hose line.
Pelt was born and raised in the West Pullman neighborhood, the same area where he devoted his adult life to help and save others as a firefighter, said his father, John Pelt.
The youngest of four sons, Pelt was smart, ambitious and “the kindest person I’ve ever met,” said his father.
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