Retired CFD, Crestwood Firefighter and Wife Killed In 4-Car Crash

CHICAGO, IL -- A retired Chicago Fire Department ambulance commander and his wife were killed early Sunday morning in a four-car crash in the South Deering neighborhood on the 103rd Street Bridge. The Chicago fire department said the retired CFD commander, Richard Biehl, and his wife, Susan, were killed in the crash. Biehl had also worked for the Crestwood Fire Department.

The accident happened around 1:18 a.m. when a Chevy sedan traveling eastbound in the 2100 block of East 103rd Street at a high rate of speed struck a Cadillac traveling westbound. The crash caused the Cadillac to hit a Buick and the Chevy hit a Jeep, flipping the Jeep over on its roof, ABC 7 Chicago reported.

CFD Media tweeted a photo of the mangled Jeep resting on its roof. Fire officials said that the accident is believed to have been caused by an “intoxicated driver who went left of center” on the bridge, calling it a “senseless loss of life.”

Chief Jon Bruce, of the Crestwood Fire Department, said that Biehl, who was in his early 60s, started as a volunteer in 1977 when the village’s fire department was all volunteer. Biehl joined the Chicago Fire Department in the mid-1980s, but continued to work part-time in Crestwood. The village transitioned from a volunteer into a fire department manned 24/7 in 1986.

“Rich was a guy who had been around for a long time when I started,” Bruce said. “When I started 90 percent of personnel were volunteers. We were a close knit group and went to everyone’s weddings.”

Biehl worked concurrently as a full-time firefighter/paramedic for the Chicago Fire Department and part-time for Crestwood. Bruce said that Richard and Susan had four children and several grandchildren. Biehl grew up in Crestwood and attended Eisenhower High School in Blue Island. Bruce said that Biehl left the Crestwood Fire Department to focus on working for CFD because he wanted to spend more time with his family. He would come back intermittently to work stints at the village fire department.

Bruce said he heard about the the death of his former colleague from other CFD firefighters who also work part-time for Crestwood.

“I got a few texts early this morning,” Bruce said, “asking if I heard about Richie.”

Crestwood FIre Department posted a picture of Biehl and his wife, asking everyone to “keep Rich and Sue in your prayers” on the department’s Facebook page.

ABC 7 Chicago said that the 30-year-old man driving the Chevy was taken to University of Chicago Medical Center in critical condition.

~ Top photo used with permission of Crestwood Fire Department