IFLODD: Firefighter Memorial


Firefighter Record

Firefighter Details

Name Charles Bird
Agency Chicago Fire Department
Rank Truckman
Type of Firefighter Career
Age Range 31 to 35
Sex Male
Date of Birth 0/0/0
Date of Death 5/3/1885
Cause of Death Struck by object
Nature of Death Trauma
Attribute of Death [not applicable]
Type of Duty Firefighting operations

Incident Details

Incident Name N/A
Incident City Chicago
Incident State IL
Incident Date 5/3/1885 23:5
Incident Location Store/Office
Incident Attribute Structural collapses , Fires

Incident Summary

On May 3, 1885, Chicago Fire Department Truckmen Charles Bird and Martin Mulvey, both of Truck 1, died in the line of duty while fighting a commercial fire on South Water Street. The fire was discovered shortly after 11PM, but flames were already breaking through the roof and fourth floor windows of the four-story building when firefighters arrived on scene. Bird and Mulvey were among the firefighters positioned inside the building on the third floor with hose lines aimed at the flames above them on the fourth floor. The structure, however, was weakened by the flames and the weight of the water, and the fourth floor collapsed onto the firefighters working on the third floor. Nine firefighters were injured in the collapse, and Bird and Mulvey were crushed by burning crates and barrels. Fifty firefighters quickly climbed to the third floor in an attempt to rescue Bird and Mulvey, but both firefighters were dead when their bodies were recovered.

Citations

“Buried in Flames,” Chicago Daily Tribune, May 4, 1885.


Firefighter and Incident Images

Firefighter and Incident Audio

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