Firefighter Record

Incident Summary

On March 5, 2019, Captain Jacob “Jake” Ringering of the Godfrey Fire Protection District died in the line of duty while fighting a residential fire in Bethalto, Illinois.

The fire started in a single-story brick and wood frame residence on Culp Lane in Bethalto and the Fosterburg Fire Department was the first dispatched. After mutual aid was requested, the Godfrey Fire Protection District was one of multiple departments who responded to the fire. Captain Ringering was working with other firefighters to use a rotary saw to cut open one of residence’s garage doors outside the below grade walkout basement/garage of the home when a perimeter collapse occurred. The roof’s triangular brick gable rafter above where the firefighters were cutting open the garage door fell approximately 21 feet onto the firefighters below. Ringering was struck by debris, knocked unconscious, and stopped breathing. He was treated by firefighters and emergency medical responders at the scene and transported to Alton Memorial Hospital where he succumbed to his fatal injuries.

Funeral services for Ringering were held at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Alton on March 12, and he was interred at Valhalla Memorial Park in Godfrey.

Ringering joined the Godfrey Fire Protection District as a career firefighter in 2010 and was the technical rescue officer, respiratory protection officer, and a lead instructor for the department. He was survived by his widow and three children.

Citations:

“Brick gable end collapses at a residential fire killing a fire captain and seriously injuring three other firefighters-Illinois,” NIOSH Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program, Report F2019-03, November 1, 2023.