A Chicago firefighter died Wednesday morning of “severe” injuries while battling a high-rise fire in the city’s Gold Coast neighborhood where another firefighter was injured.
The fire broke out just before 7:30 a.m. on the 27th floor of a building in the 1200 block of North Lake Shore Drive, fire officials said.
A firefighter was initially injured, but is said to be in stable condition.
The department said the fire was extinguished minutes after the elevator stopped, although there were still hot spots.
Soon after, the department tweeted that a second firefighter was injured as the smoke from the fire was “heavy.”
At 8 a.m., a Mayday was called for “firefighter down.”
A second injured firefighter is said to be in “critical” condition and being taken to an area hospital. Officials later pronounced the firefighter, Lt.
About an hour later, fire officials said the main body of the fire had been extinguished and that the fire was contained to a unit on the 27th floor that had no sprinklers.
The death marks the second firefighter death in two days, after one firefighter died and two others were injured in a blaze on the city’s south side.
Check back for more on this developing story.
