City: Unauthorized Elevator Work Was Being Done At Building Where Firefighter Fell To His Death
(CBS) -- Charges could potentially be filed against the owner of a South Side warehouse where a Chicago firefighter fell Monday morning and died.
The Chicago Fire Department says the firefighter fell down the open elevator shaft and there were no barriers around it.
The Chicago Department of Buildings says unauthorized work was being done at the site, including complete removal of the elevator and other structural alterations.
And Fire Department Spokesman Larry Langford says there were no barriers around the shaft.
The firefighter, 42-year-old Daniel Capuano, fell from the second floor to the basement down the elevator shaft at the burning warehouse at 92nd and Baltimore.
"The building owner did not obtain the proper building permits for the work being performed, which would have included a permit for the removal or demolition of a conveyance device (e.g. an elevator)," a spokesperson for the Building Department said in a prepared statement. "When such a permit is issued the city completes an elevator inspection to ensure it has been safely and properly decommissioned."
"The department is in the process of completing its full inspection today and all violations will be referred to Circuit Court for prosecution," the statement added.
Colleagues and neighbors grieved for Capuano, a husband and father of three children.
"He was a devoted man. He loved doing what he did. He died doing what he did, and he was a wonderful husband, a wonderful father, and certainly a dedicated person," Father Edward Mikolajczyk said Monday evening as parishioners met at Queen of Martyrs Church in Evergreen Park, where Capuano attended mass.