CFD lieutenant died of heart disease at Gold Coast high-rise fire, autopsy finds

CHICAGO (CBS)-- A Chicago Fire Department lieutenant who collapsed and died while battling a high-rise fire in the Gold Coast neighborhood Wednesday morning died of heart disease, an autopsy determined. 

Lt. Jan Tchoryk was the second Chicago firefighter to die while battling a fire in as many days.

Tchoryk collapsed in the stairwell at 1212 N. Lake Shore Dr. on Wednesday while leading his crew on their way to the 27th floor, where the fire started. According to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office, an autopsy determined he died of natural causes, specifically hypertensive-arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease.

Three other firefighters and two civilians also were injured in the fire. The civilians were taken to the hospital in good condition. Two firefighters were treated for heat exhaustion and other minor injuries, and were released from the hospital on Wednesday. A third firefighter was taken to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital with breathing issues, but his condition improved and he was released from the hospital Thursday afternoon.

Chicago Fire Commissioner Annette Nance-Holt confirmed the fire was confined to one large apartment on the 27th floor. The building has sprinklers only in the parking garage, not in the rest of the building, she said. The elevators were out and the fire was upgraded to a 3-alarm fire.

Nance-Holt said Tchoryk was leading Tower Ladder 10 as they responded to the fire. Tchoryk and his crew were taking the stairs to the floor with the fire when he went down on the 11th floor. Nance-Holt said fire crews started CPR and brought him to the lobby where they continued life-saving measures. 

He was then taken to Northwestern Hospital in "very critical" condition. He later died. Nance-Holt said it's unclear whether Tchoryk suffered a heart attack, saying it will be up to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office to determine a cause of death.

Tchoryk, 55, was a Navy veteran with a son who is a Chicago police officer. He joined CFD in 1997  

Nance-Holt said firefighters were forced to use the stairs to reach the 27th floor after the elevators went out, due to water from firefighting efforts making its way into the elevator shaft. She said a second elevator shaft that was still working would not have reached the area firefighter needed to access to fight the blaze.

"They were out walking very tiny, very dark stairwell," said Francesca Romano, a tenant at the high rise. "I mean, especialy all that smoke. I don't know how they saw. I don't know how they were getting up and down. It's crazy."

At one point, the blaze seemed under control, but sources told CBS 2 the winds outside fanned the flames, causing the fire to reignite.

"They looked tired," said tenant Denise Kozloff. "They walked up with their gear and everything. They were sweating."

Reacting to Tchoryk's death, Kozloff said, "I think I want to go to his funeral, because I'm amazed at how courageous people are."

The fire comes just one day after Chicago firefighter Jermaine Pelt died while battling a fire in the West Pullman neighborhood. The 18-year veteran recently celebrated his 49th birthday and walked his daughter down the aisle at her wedding. An autopsy determined he died as a result of carbon monoxide toxicity from inhalation of smoke and soot, and his death was ruled an accident. Thermal injuries and hypertensive arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease also were factors in Pelt's death.

"I can't tell you how this impacts us, losing two members in two days. As I said yesterday, this job is dangerous, and you never know if you're coming home, despite the best training and equipment that we can provide. Please keep his family in your prayers, as well as the entire Chicago Fire Department," Nance-Holt said.

According to the Illinois Fire Service Institute, 585 Chicago firefighters have died in the line of duty since the first one was recorded in 1857.   Nine have died since 2012.  It's rare to have two deaths in an entire year, let alone two in two days. 

Mayor Lori Lightfoot described it as "a very difficult time and day for our city."

"It is unprecedented to lose two firefighters in back-to-back days; in different circumstances, but each of them responding to a call to serve, and responding to the aid of others, people that they didn't know, because that's what the job demands, and that's what they signed up for," Lightfoot said. 

Lightfoot said she recently met Tchoryk's son at his graduation from the police academy.

"When I go to those graduations, one of the things that I say – whether it's police or fire – it's that they are joining a family; a family who walks in their shoes, who understands the life that they have chosen, the calling that they have chosen. But it's also important in moments like this that that family is there to support and help them on this journey of grief," she said.

Nance-Holt said rank-and-file firefighters and command staff are both "devastated' at the deaths of two firefighters in as many days.

"When you see firefighters and paramedics, thank them; and police officers, thank them for what they do every day. Because they risk their lives, not knowing if they will come home, and we've seen that in two days now. Two days we've seen families broken, and those members will never return home to those families," she said.

Tchoryk's death comes one day after Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson was elected mayor. He will be sworn in next month, and Lightfoot was asked what advice she would give him about dealing with such a tragedy.

"As a human being, having to call a family and offer words of condolence that you know really are going to do very little for the broken hearts and the grief that they're facing, those are tough moments, and I would just say to Mayor-elect Johnson - and I will share this with him when we have more time to talk - be humble. Be grateful. Our first responders literally give their lives. There's a lot of rhetoric that's out there about first responders, particularly on the police side. When you've seen what I've seen, and you have to make the calls that I've had to make, you'd better be humble, and you'd better be grateful. It's hard to motivate people when they don't think that their leader has their back, and it's absolutely essential," she said. "We may not agree on every issue, but I thank the lord every single day for the first responders, the firemen, the police officers, the 911 call-takers, and dispatchers. They experience trauma that none of us will see in a lifetime."

CBS 2 spoke with the American Red Cross which was on the scene on Wednesday. They are not sure how many people are displaced because of the fire but are working to find out.

Fire officials said the fire was ruled an accident as it started from combustibles being too close to a heat-generating appliance, but did not elaborate on the type of combustibles or appliance involved.