Duty Death: Lieutenant Jan Tchoryk - [Chicago]
End of Service: 05/04/2023
UPDATE (12: 38 p.m. Central time):
By Deanese Williams-Harris, Richard Requena, Rosemary Sobol
Chicago Tribune
CHICAGO — A firefighter has died and two 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 3-11 alarm was called at the building on the 1200 block of North DuSable Lake Shore Drive and a “mayday” alert was activated when the firefighter, Lt. Jan Tchoryk, 55, “went down” as he worked the fire scene, Fire Commissioner Annette Nance-Holt said.
He was taking the stairs on the 11th floor when it happened, said Nance-Holt, who said it was not immediately known what caused his death.
Among the many crews responding was Tower Ladder 10, led by Tchoryk. He has been with the Chicago Fire Department about 25 years. He served in Desert Storm and had a big family. His son is a rookie Chicago police officer.
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.
Tchoryk was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital after he was taken to the lobby, where paramedics worked on him, officials said.
As of 8:45 a.m., all firefighters at the scene were located.
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 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 a firehose connection on the outside of the building.
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.
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EARLIER:
By Deanese Williams-Harris
Chicago Tribune
CHICAGO — At least three Chicago firefighters were injured at an extra-alarm blaze at a high-rise building on DuSable Lake Shore Drive in the South Loop neighborhood, officials said.
About 8 a.m., a 311 alert was called at the building located at 1212 S. Lakeshore Drive where a mayday was called.
Officials said one firefighter was critically injured.
https://twitter.com/CFDMedia/status/1643592491575156740
Spokesman Larry Langford said officials were still trying to locate all firefighters at the scene, and three were taken to the hospital. One was very critically injured, Langford said.
The critically injured firefighter was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, officials said. As of 8:45 a.m., all firefighters at the scene were located.
The building built in 1970 has 35 floors, according to online information.
https://twitter.com/CFDMedia/status/1643599722366607361 https://twitter.com/CFDMedia/status/1643610876874747909
©2023 Chicago Tribune.
Visit chicagotribune.com.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.