Fallen Firefighter ID'd As 14-Year Chicago Fire Department Veteran

CHICAGO — A firefighter died Monday following an early morning fire at a building in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood. The 39-year-old was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in critical condition following the fire at a four-story building that houses the Lincoln Station bar/restaurant on the first floor.

"On behalf of the Fire Commissioner, it is my sad duty to report the passing of our member injured this morning at 2430 Lincoln," Larry Langford, director of the Chicago Fire Department, said in a social media post.

CFD Commissioner Annette Nance-Holt identified the fallen firefighter as Andrew "Drew" Price, 39, during a press conference outside the hospital. Nance-Holt said that at around 6 a.m., Price was on the roof of the four-story mixed use building "opening holes" when he fell through a light shaft. She said firefighters forced a hole in a wall where he was trapped to bring him out.

Nance-Holt said he died from "significant injuries." Price was a member of Engine 55, Truck 44 (Halstead Street and Diversey Avenue), and a member of the Chicago Fire Department since March 2009. According to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office, Price lived in the Kilbourn Park neighborhood in Chicago's Northwest Side.

"Illinois Masonic did everything they could to help our member's outcome," Nance-Holt said during the press conference, held just before 10 a.m.

Nance-Holt, who described Price as a "very good friend," said his wife was at the hospital, along with family members and firefighters from his company. She said he was a "leader and great firefighter." Price was set to turn 40 in January, according to the CFD.

"Everybody called him 'Drew.' We knew him as 'Drew.' He worked out. He was a health nut, loved by so many and will be missed by all," Nance-Holt said.

She asked the public to keep the Chicago Fire Department, along with Price's family, in their prayers.

"This job is a very, very dangerous job. We go to work, and we never know if we'll come home," Nance-Holt said. "We just ask for everybody to continue to pray for us, continue to pray for his family and especially his co-workers behind me who still have to go back to work and do this job without their team member."

Price is the fourth Chicago firefighter to die in the line of duty this year, following Kevin Ward in August, and Jeremy Pelt and Jan Tchoryk in April. Pelt and Tchoryk died on consecutive days in separate fires.

The Chicago Fire Department said in a social media post at 6:44 a.m. that a firefighter had been trapped, and was rescued and taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center.

WBBM reported at 7:50 a.m. that the fire at 2432 Lincoln Ave., which houses the Lincoln Station bar and restaurant, was out. The southbound lane of DuSable Lake Shore Drive was backed up from Foster Avenue into downtown, according to WBBM.

"Our collective hearts are heavy this morning as we mourn the passing of firefighter Andrew Price, who has fallen in the line of duty battling a fire in Lincoln Park," Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said in a statement. "Andrew gave his life in service to the City of Chicago, taking his position at the front lines of a threat to our safety and community. He made the ultimate sacrifice to protect those in harm's way – a debt we can never repay.

"My prayers are with the Price family, his CFD colleagues and those he served with on Truck 44. The City is here to support all those who loved him during this difficult time."

Gov. J.B. Pritzker also released a statement on Price's passing, calling him a "hero."

CFD said Price's body was taken to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office for an autopsy by a procession of firefighters this afternoon. They said arrangements are pending.

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