By Jamie Sotonoff and Jake Griffin, Chicago Daily Herald 
Original publication date: Dec. 23

A large contingent of suburban firefighters will attend the funerals of two Chicago firefighters killed in a Wednesday morning blaze on the city’s South Side.

Even though they didn’t know the men personally, local firefighters say it’s important for them to show up both to support the victims’ families and to honor the long tradition of unity and brotherhood within their profession.

“Because they died in the line of duty, you’ll see representatives around the world, literally, for this funeral,” Mundelein Fire Chief Tim Sashko said. “We band together mostly in prayer … because we know there is potential that you’re not going to go home after shift. It’s something we understand and respect. In the military, it’s no different.”

The burning building in Chicago had been vacant for years, but the firefighters went in anyway, just in case squatters started the blaze and were trapped inside. Then the heavy-timbered roof and a wall suddenly collapsed.

Four firefighters were trapped under debris, and two of them died on a day that already was among the most somber on the Chicago Fire Department’s calendar. Exactly 100 years ago, 21 Chicago firefighters died when a wall collapsed at the Union Stock Yards fire, one of the nation’s worst tragedies for firefighters before 9/11.

“We were ringing the bell and calling out the names,” said retired Chicago firefighter Bill Cosgrove, who was at a service honoring the anniversary. “We heard a mayday on the radio that a wall had fallen in.”

The men killed were Edward Stringer, 47, a 12-year department veteran, and Corey Ankum, 34, who joined the department a little over a year ago.

Most of the firefighters at the service broke down in tears when they found out about the collapse, he said.

“It was beyond disbelief,” Cosgrove said. “It was a matter of a few hours and a hundred years later we have the same type of incident.”

The sentiment was echoed by many suburban firefighters Wednesday, as they read the news with heavy hearts.

“Sometimes this job is just dangerous, and fate will take its toll,” Mundelein’s Sashko said. “May they rest in peace. This has been a really rough year for public safety in Chicago.”

Added Buffalo Grove Deputy Fire Marshal George Michehl: “When something happens to one of our brothers, we are crushed.”

Des Plaines Fire Lt. Jim Hall said they will have an Honor Guard, their chiefs and many off-duty firefighters attending the funerals.

“Whoever is usually free to go, goes,” Hall said. “It’s a brotherhood. It’s a show of support.”

More than 170 Chicago firefighters on duty responded to a 911 call about the burning building just before dawn Wednesday, fire department spokesman Larry Langford said. He said no one expected the call to be anything more than a routine winter fire.

Although the one-story building, which was more than a half century old, had been vacant for years and the utilities had been turned off, firefighters searched it out of concern that homeless people might be inside trying to stay warm.

The cause of the fire was under investigation. Authorities speculated that squatters might have been burning debris to keep warm.

“The fire had no other way of starting,” Langford said.

He said the only people injured were firefighters.

Two were pulled out quickly, but rescuers had to use extrication equipment to reach Stringer and Ankum.

Every firefighter at the scene on Wednesday “did the best they could to save their brothers,” said Robert Hoff, the city’s fire commissioner.

In all, 17 firefighters were injured, and five remained hospitalized Wednesday evening, Hoff said.

Mayor Richard Daley was out of town at the time of the blaze but cut his trip short to return home and address the city. At a news conference Wednesday evening, a tearful Daley said he’d known Ankum and his family well. Ankum’s wife, Demeka, has worked as Daley’s executive assistant for about 10 years.

He remembered Ankum as a wonderful husband, father and firefighter who loved his job. “That’s all he wanted to talk about,” Daley said.

“Each and every time we lose a member of the police and fire departments, we lose a part of Chicago’s history,” Daley said.

Ankum’s brother, Gerald Glover, said he had a wife and three children. “He was a great young man. He would do anything for anybody. He would give you the shirt off his back.”

Wheaton’s fire department also plans to send a contingent, Deputy Chief Bill Schultz said.

“Whenever there’s a line-of-duty death in our area we all tend to come together,” he said. “We’re just a very tightknit group of people and we know what each other goes through. We put our lives in each other’s hands and we want to pay tribute to those who have fallen because it could happen to us. They would be doing the same thing for us.”

* The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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