Firefighter Record
Firefighter Details
| Name | Richard O'Connor |
| Agency | Chicago Fire Department |
| Rank | Captain |
| Type of Firefighter | Career |
| Age Range | [Unknown] |
| Sex | Male |
| Date of Birth | 0/0/0 |
| Date of Death | 10/4/1987 |
| Cause of Death | Stress/Overexertion |
| Nature of Death | Heart attack |
| Attribute of Death | [not applicable] |
| Type of Duty | Responding to/returning from incident |
Incident Details
| Incident Name | N/A |
| Incident City | Chicago |
| Incident State | IL |
| Incident Date | 10/4/1987 |
| Incident Location | Residential |
| Incident Attribute | False alarms |
Incident Summary
On October 4, 1987, Chicago Fire Department Captain Richard O’Connor of Engine 29 collapsed after climbing ten flights of stairs while responding to a false alarm in a multi-story Chicago Housing Authority project building. The building’s two elevators had been vandalized and were not in operation, leaving the stairs as the only way to reach the upper levels of the building. Paramedics attempted to revive O’Connor on-scene for more than forty minutes before taking him to Michael Reese Hospital where he was pronounced dead from a heart attack.
Citations:
Philip Wattley and Pat Jamison, “Captain Dies After False CHA Alarm,” Chicago Tribune, October 6, 1987.
Philip Wattley, Jerry Thornton, and Pat Jamison, “CHA Elevator Vandalized Where Fire Captain Died,” Chicago Tribune, October 6, 1987.
Firefighter and Incident Images
