Name | Patrick McElligot |
Agency | Chicago Fire Department |
Rank | Lieutenant |
Type of Firefighter | Career |
Age Range | 36 to 40 |
Sex | Male |
Date of Birth | 0/0/0 |
Date of Death | 4/29/1909 |
Cause of Death | Struck by object |
Nature of Death | Trauma |
Attribute of Death | [not applicable] |
Type of Duty | Firefighting operations |
Incident Name | N/A |
Incident City | Chicago |
Incident State | IL |
Incident Date | 4/29/1909 4:0 |
Incident Location | Industry/ Manufacturing |
Incident Attribute | Structural collapses , Fires |
On April 29, 1909, Chicago Fire Department Lieutenant Patrick McElligot and Truckman Simon Cooper, both of Truck 3, died in the line of duty while fighting a fire in an Illinois Central Railroad building on South Water Street.
The fire was caused by a lightning strike shortly after 4AM, and the building was enveloped in flames before the first firefighters arrived at the scene. The fire was particularly persistent in an elevator that housed more than 700,000 bushels of grain. McElligot and Cooper were fighting the grain fire when one of the elevator walls collapsed, crushing the two firefighters.
A twelve year veteran of the department, McElligot was survived by his widow and six children.
Funeral services for Cooper were held at Holy Name Cathedral on May 2, and he was buried at St. Boniface Cemetery. He was survived by his widow, mother, and seven siblings.
Citations:
“Death and Injury in Fire,” Chicago Daily Tribune, April 29, 1909.
“Elevator Ruins Yield Body,” Chicago Daily Tribune, April 30, 1909.
Obituary of Simon Cooper, Chicago Daily Tribune, May 1, 1909.