This from Eric Haak:

The images below show the scene from Valentine’s Day, 1962. The 4-11 Alarm fire at 1365-75 East 70th Street broke out around 11:15 in the morning. About and hour and a half later, companies were working in the interior of the third floor when things began to crumble around them. At approximately 12:45, Commissioner Quinn ordered the men out of the building as the roof began sagging. As the men made their way out, the west wall and roof caved in, taking three men with it. 52 year-old Chief of the Fire Prevention Bureau Robert O’Brien and 43 year-old Battalion Chief Thomas Hoff were buried under debris in the basement. Chief Hoff’s driver, Edward Stack, was also taken down by the collapse but managed to escape unhurt by rolling through a first floor doorway. An inquest made into the cause of the deaths of Chief’s O’Brien and Hoff’s was inconclusive as to the cause of the fire, although at the time, it was thought to have been a faulty furnace in the basement. Chief O’Brien was a childhood friend of Mayor Daley and grew up five doors down from the Daley family on Lowe Street.

4-11 Alarm fire at 1365-75 East 70th Street in Chicago February 14, 1962. Photographer known, from the collection of Eric Haak.

4-11 Alarm fire at 1365-75 East 70th Street in Chicago February 14, 1962. Photographer known, from the collection of Eric Haak.

4-11 Alarm fire at 1365-75 East 70th Street in Chicago February 14, 1962. Photographer known, from the collection of Eric Haak.

4-11 Alarm fire at 1365-75 East 70th Street in Chicago February 14, 1962. Photographer known, from the collection of Eric Haak.

4-11 Alarm fire at 1365-75 East 70th Street in Chicago February 14, 1962. Photographer known, from the collection of Eric Haak.

Tags: Battalion Chief Thomas Hoff, Chief of the Fire Prevention Bureau Robert O'Brien, Edward Stack, Eric Haak, historic Chicago 4-11 alarm fire, historic fire photos from Chicago, throwbackthursday