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| The body of Captain Nicholas Schmidt is removed from the wreckage of the Reliance Hotel (HistoricImages.com) |
It was on this date, December 17, in 1954 that the Chicago Fire
Department suffered through another tragic day when over one hundred men
responded to a 3-11 alarm fire at a sway-backed hotel, the Reliance, at 1702
West Madison Street.
The wind was out of
the west at ten to fifteen miles per hour, and the temperature stood right
around ten degrees as over two-dozen firemen searched the second floor’s 17
rooms and the third floor’s 28 rooms.
Five men were on the roof of the structure when a portion of the
building collapsed. The men on the roof
rode the debris down into the building; those on the second and third floors
were trapped in the wreckage.
Some men were able
to free themselves as frantic firefighters worked most of
the day in frigid temperatures to free those who were trapped in the
debris. Four doctors, three from the
Presbyterian Hospital and Dr. Herman H. Bundesen, president of the Board of
Health, went into the debris to attend to trapped men as they awaited rescue.
Finally, after more
than six hours as another wall tilted precariously over the rescue effort and
hope dwindled, Assistant Fire Commissioner Anthony J. Mullaney ordered all of
his men to leave the wreckage and a crane was brought in to search for two
firemen who remained missing. Shortly
after the order a portion of the third floor tumbled into the basement.
One of the missingg men
was George Malik, a 37-year-old acting lieutenant. “They put the crane in – our hope is gone,”
his wife cried softly. “That means all
our hope is gone.” [Chicago Tribune,
December 18, 1953]
The survivors’
stories were harrowing. A lieutenant
with Squad 2, Alvin Joslin, said, “We had no warning. The wall just let go. I was lucky.
I was pinned under a door and it shielded me.”
Fireman Arthur
Carlson of Engine 31 said he could feel rescuers walking on the debris that
entrapped him. “They dug me out after we
had been in there three or four hours.
It seemed forever.”
“It was like I was
in a cast,” fireman Raymond Nowicki of Engine 107 said. “I could only see down, so I just had to stay
put and pray.
Over eight
hours had passed before the last fireman’s body was found.
One resident at the
hotel, John Tybor, died in the fire.
Five firefighters
lost their lives that cold December day.
Lieutenant George Malik had served with the department for ten years,
the whole time with Engine 34. He left
two children, George, Jr., 10, and Judy, 8.
Fireman John Jarose, a father of three children, Diane, 11; Kenneth, 7, and John, Jr., 2, also
died. He had fractured a leg fighting a
fire at St. Ignatius High School the previous January and had spent three
months recovering in a hospital.
Fireman Robert
Jordan was looking forward to spending the first Christmas in a new home with
his wife and three children, Gregory, 16; Barbara, 13, and Robert, Jr., 8. He had been a fireman for ten years.
Fireman Robert R.
Schaack had been wounded on Okinawa and drove a truck before joining the fire
department. He had been a fireman for
five years and lived with his parents.
The last fireman to
be removed from the wreckage was Captain Nicholas Schmidt, 56, who had 26 years
of service with the department, serving with Company 112 and with Engine
107. He left a widow, Lillian, and three
sons, John, 24; Robert, 23, and Edward, 8, along with two daughters, Mary, 20,
and Audrey 12.
The equipment is
better these days, and the protective gear the firefighters wear provides more
protection than it did back in 1953. The
danger, though, is just as great and the firefighters just as brave as they
ever were.
The death in the line of duty this past Monday of firefighter Daniel Capuano reminds us of that. Our thoughts are
with his family, friends, and comrades as they mourn his passing. Firefighter Capuano’s wake today and
tomorrow’s funeral are reminders of how special these men and women are, folks who at a
moment’s notice drop everything and walk into unknown peril to search for,
assist, and, often, save the lives of people they have never met.
As you give thanks
this holiday season, take a moment to give thanks for them.
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