Firefighter Record
Firefighter Details
| Name | Douglas Maicach |
| Agency | South Holland Fire Department |
| Rank | Firefighter |
| Type of Firefighter | Career |
| Age Range | 26 to 30 |
| Sex | Male |
| Date of Birth | 5/25/1958 |
| Date of Death | 1/3/1989 |
| Cause of Death | Struck by object |
| Nature of Death | Trauma |
| Attribute of Death | [not applicable] |
| Type of Duty | Firefighting operations , Hose operations |
Incident Details
| Incident Name | N/A |
| Incident City | South Holland |
| Incident State | IL |
| Incident Date | 1/3/1989 22:15 |
| Incident Location | Industry/ Manufacturing |
| Incident Attribute | Explosions , Fires |
Incident Summary
On January 3, 1989, Firefighter Douglas Maicach of the South Holland Fire Department died in the line of duty while fighting a fire at the headquarters of a trucking company. Maicach had just arrived at the fire when a sixty-pound propane tank on a burning forklift truck exploded. The tank was thrown more than thirty feet and struck Maicach in the parking lot as he was unloading a hose from a fire engine. The tank continued to travel another 125 feet after striking Maicach.
Maicach had been a firefighter with the South Holland Fire Department for five years, first as a paid-on-call firefighter and then, beginning in 1988, as a career firefighter. At the time of his death, he was in the process of becoming a certified paramedic.
More than 380 firefighters from more than fifty departments attended Maicach’s funeral at Calvary Reformed Church on January 7, and he was buried at Oak Ridge Cemetery in Lansing, Illinois. On May 30, 1992, a local South Holland park was renamed Maicach Park in his memory.
Citations:
Phillip J. O’Connor, “Fond dreams die with paramedic,” Chicago Sun-Times, January 5, 1989.
Philip Franchine, “380 helmets pay last respects to a fallen fireman,” Chicago Sun-Times, January 7, 1989.
Firefighter and Incident Images
