Posts Tagged Chicago Firefighter Dan Capuano dies after fall at fire scene

Chicago FD LODD Firefighter Daniel Capuano, 12-14-15 (more)

Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com:

A year to the day after Chicago Firefighter Daniel Capuano died, the warehouse where he suffered a fatal fall during a smoky fire is being demolished.

The razing of the property at 9213 S. Baltimore Ave. is scheduled to begin Wednesday with the deconstruction of the building’s roof, Chicago Department of Buildings spokeswoman Mimi Simon said. The move comes following a year of hearings regarding the Southeast Side property, including several held in the weeks after Capuano’s death.

The city moved to have the warehouse knocked down because of an array of code and building violations, including an open elevator shaft where Capuano, 43, fell during the Dec. 14, 2015, fire.

Demolition of the brick warehouse was delayed, Simon said, because of “design and structural challenges” related to the building’s location near railroad tracks and because it shares a wall with another building. Railroad tracks used by Metra Electric trains are located immediately to the east. The 93rd Street station is next door.

The Chicago Fire Department held a memorial bell-ringing ceremony Wednesday morning at Capuano’s firehouse, Engine Co. 72 on South Chicago Avenue, deputy district Chief Jeff Lyle said. Capuano was a part of Tower Ladder 34. The memorial was held during morning roll call. Bernard Farmer, a battalion chief who died Dec. 14, 1954, in a building collapse at 224 W. Illinois St. also was honored.

thanks Dan

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Chicago FD LODD Firefighter Daniel Capuano, 12-14-15 (more)

Excerpts from theChicagoTribune.com:

Jatin Patel, a businessman linked to the warehouse where a Chicago firefighter plunged to his death has received a string of municipal violations and a series of fines for “dangerous and unsafe conditions” at other properties he has managed or owned and has been fined thousands of dollars over the past decade for an array of code violations discovered by the city, according to court documents.

Patel, who manages the company Anilroshi that was renovating the Southeast Side brick warehouse where firefighter Daniel Capuano died Dec. 14, was cited at other properties for failure to secure a vacant building, possible rat infestations, uncut weeds, and inadequate flooring, according to documents filed in Cook County Circuit Court.

Construction work at the site where Capuano died was unauthorized and outside the scope of building permits, according to the city’s building department, which found the warehouse unsafe and wants it demolished. Patel is not named in the lawsuit related to the Baltimore Avenue warehouse, but his name is listed with the company on the service list for the city’s emergency motion to demolish the warehouse filed in circuit court the week of the fire. Patel also signed as the purchaser of the property for Anilroshi in 2014, according to real estate records. Anilroshi was formed as a limited liability company in 2012, according to Illinois secretary of state records, and Patel is listed as the manager.

City and county records link Patel to at least a half-dozen properties in Chicago dating to 2006, where he was cited for building code violations and failure to pay fines levied for those violations. The city took him to administrative hearings to collect and in some cases moved to garnish his wages for the money. It is unclear why Patel did not pay the fines, but at one point, he failed to pay $540 for property violations despite a balance in his bank account of about $99,439, according to court documents.

Among the violations linked to property Patel managed or owned, according to complaints filed in Cook County Circuit Court:

•Citations for failing to secure and maintain a vacant building at houses in the 6900 block of South Bishop Street and 2100 block of West 71st Place. He was ordered to pay fines in 2009 of $4,340 for each property.

•Citation for violating the city’s unsafe property statute in 2006 for a house in the 7900 block of South Marshfield Avenue, and a fine of $1,000 for an open and vandalized building with trash on the property, a rotting porch and a leaky roof.

•Citation in 2013 for dangerous conditions at an apartment building at the corner of South Sangamon Street and West Marquette Road. There, the city said, the building’s floor was warped and the heating, plumbing and electrical systems were stripped and inoperable.

Patel also has been fined for code violations at several other properties.

For the Baltimore Avenue property, Anilroshi secured building permits through the city’s “easy permit” process for drywall, concrete and window work, according to building department records. But the building department said work being done inside went well beyond that, leading to holes in the floor, unprotected stairwells and the open elevator shaft.

An easy permit can be quickly obtained from the city in one day but is designed for only small and simple projects that do not require the submission of architectural plans. Last year, the city issued 34,700 easy permits out of a total of 45,000 building permits.

While he has managed property in the city, Patel, a registered pharmacist since 1989, also has operated a pharmacy, usually named J Discount, at several locations in Chicago — most recently at 3100 E. 92nd St., across the parking lot from the Baltimore Avenue warehouse. He ran J Discount at locations on North Avenue and North Western Avenue before moving the operations south.

J Discount Pharmacy on Western Avenue received $1.25 million in Medicaid reimbursements in fiscal year 2014 and $976,403 in 2015, according to the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services.

In 2007, Patel was ordered by state officials to return $1.5 million in Medicaid overpayments. He then claimed that a fundraiser for then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich sought a campaign donation as a form of protection from state investigators in the Medicaid matter. Patel told state police, and later the Tribune, that he gave the fundraiser a check for $25,000 but immediately had pangs of regret and ordered his bank to stop payment. The fundraiser acknowledged soliciting and collecting the donation but denied he traded it for interference, saying he told Patel to contact an attorney about his legal troubles. Patel has not been charged with any wrongdoing, and it is unclear how the Medicaid overpayments situation was resolved.

The Chicago office of the Drug Enforcement Administration served an administrative warrant on J Discount’s former location at 1344 N. Western Ave. in 2011, seeking the pharmacy’s records, reports and files for regulatory purposes. The DEA matter is an open case, a spokesman said.

In the affidavit filed in federal court, the DEA said a review of the Illinois Department of Human Services’ Prescription Monitoring Program “revealed questionable prescribing practices of a number of physicians and subsequently dispensing practices by J Discount.” According to the filing in federal court, J Discount bought “significant quantities of various formulations of hydrocodone and codeine products,” which are “addictive prescription painkillers and are highly popular with drug abusers.”

Between September 2009 and July 2011, about 92 percent of J Discount’s drug orders were hydrocodone or codeine products, according to a DEA database cited in the court documents. Patel has not been accused of wrongdoing related to the DEA filing.

In October, Patel filed a lawsuit in federal court accusing the city of Wheaton of discrimination. Patel, who notes in the lawsuit that he is Indian, is attempting to build an addition to his house but the city issued a stop work order, reportedly because the planned work violated the city’s floor area ratio.

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Chicago FD LODD Firefighter Daniel Capuano, 12-14-15 (more)

Excerpts from Chicago.cbslocal.com:

A blaze at a vacant South Side warehouse that left firefighter Daniel Capuano dead in December was set off by a construction worker using an arc welder that touched off insulation and deemed accidental, the Chicago Fire Department announced Wednesday.

Daniel Capuano, a 15-year veteran of the department, was killed while battling a blaze at a vacant warehouse at 9213 S. Baltimore Av. on Dec. 14.

Capuano, who was assigned to Tower Ladder 34, was searching through heavy smoke on the second floor when he fell down an elevator shaft and into the basement in the three-story warehouse.

The city’s Department of Buildings said after the blaze that unauthorized work was being performed at the warehouse. Work being conducted without a permit included complete removal of the elevator and other structural alterations, spokeswoman Mimi Simon said.

On Dec. 15, building inspectors dropped multiple code violations on the owner of the building and city attorneys moved to have the building torn down.

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Chicago FD LODD Firefighter Daniel Capuano, 12-14-15 (more)

Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com:

Owners of the building where firefighter Daniel Capuano suffered a fatal fall Dec. 14 agreed to demolish the building at 9213 S. Baltimore Ave. The city filed an emergency motion to raze the warehouse one day after Capuano plummeted down an unprotected elevator shaft while fighting a small but smoky fire. City building department officials said the building’s owner did not have proper work permits and the removal of the elevator was unauthorized.

The owners will pay for the demolition. But before the Anilroshi building is razed, concerns about the property next door must be addressed, said Kimberly Roberts, a city attorney.

Fire and city health inspectors on Wednesday discovered 1,500 pounds of improperly stored ammonia at 9227-29 S. Baltimore Ave., a food packing plant that shares a wall with the building where Capuano suffered his fatal fall. Operations at that company were shut down Wednesday, and the city plans to file an emergency motion for demolition of the neighboring property next week, Roberts said. The city hopes to have both buildings demolished at the same time. The timeline for demolition is unknown.

Capuano’s wife, Julie, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit, alleging the building owner was negligent because the building had an open elevator shaft, gaping holes in the floor and no permits for major work at the warehouse, in violation of Occupational Safety and Health Administration and city standards.

A structural engineer told the judge that the Anilroshi building is structurally sound and is not in danger of collapse. Cummings said the owners will begin the demolition permit process, but that razing the building will be complicated because the property backs up to the Metra Electric 93rd Street station.

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Chicago FD LODD Firefighter Daniel Capuano, 12-14-15 (more)

Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com:

Julie Capuano, the wife of deceased Chicago Firefighter Daniel Capuano, filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court against Anilroshi, the company that owns a two-story brick warehouse at 9213 S. Baltimore Ave. Daniel Capuano, 42, died Monday, a few hours after he plunged down an open, unprotected elevator shaft as he and a partner searched through thick smoke for people and the source of the fire, the Chicago Fire Department said.

The lawsuit alleges the owner was negligent because the building had an open elevator shaft, gaping holes in the floor and no permits for major work at the warehouse, in violation of Occupational Safety and Health Administration and city standards.

“The defendant blatantly violated OSHA regulations and city of Chicago regulations,” Capuano family attorney Robert Napleton said. “It cost a world-class father, husband, son, and friend to many his life.”

PDF: Motion to demolish building at 9213-9219 S. Baltimore Ave.

A Buildings Department report outlined several alleged violations and dangerous conditions, including unauthorized work at the elevator shaft where Capuano fell. The city also is seeking as much as $1,000 per day for every day the owners kept the building in an unsafe condition.

The building’s status was put on hold after Cook County Circuit Associate Judge Pamela Hughes Gillespie ruled that all parties have until Jan. 2 to complete inspections at the building. Napleton said he also filed an emergency motion with the court, granted by another judge, seeking to preserve the building and any physical evidence at the scene. He wants to make sure that any video surveillance, computer evidence or materials at the building are protected and representatives for the family are given access to the warehouse to document its condition.

The building’s previous owner, Jackie Procissi, who with her husband sold the warehouse to Anilroshi, said earlier this week the elevator was in “perfect working condition” at the time of the sale and that the warehouse had passed inspections when they owned it. Anilroshi bought the building for $125,000 in October 2014.

City attorney Kimberly Roberts reiterated the city’s position that unauthorized work was being performed at the site. “Permits were issued for the building, but the work that was being done was beyond the scope of the permits,” Roberts said. The Buildings Department issued permits in September, but the owner did not receive a permit for removing or demolishing an elevator, officials said. The warehouse had “multiple floor openings on the 1st and 2nd floors, none of which are barricaded. The elevator system has been demolished, including the masonry shaft enclosure from basement to 2nd floor leaving the shaft open,” according to the Buildings Department report. The report also listed problems with the structural integrity of the load-bearing beams and columns, exposed electrical wires, staircases without handrails, and other masonry, plumbing and heating problems.

State Farm, insurer for the building, filed a temporary restraining order to prevent immediate demolition. A structural engineer inspected the building and determined it was not in danger of imminent collapse.

The judge voiced concern about the open holes at the property. “I’m not leaving a property with gaping holes in there where one fireman’s already been killed, I’m not just leaving it that way,” Hughes Gillespie said. “Heaven forbid there’s another fire in that building. I want those holes covered. It’s as easy at that.”

The fire department said the exact source of the small, smoky fire that drew firefighters to the scene remains under investigation as officials await tests on construction materials inside the brick building. But Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said “it’s definitely not arson.” He said the fire was quite small but smoldering produced a thick smoke that made it difficult for Capuano and other firefighters to see inside.

The Cook County state’s attorney’s office said it will review the case when reports are completed for possible criminal prosecution related to Capuano’s death.

thanks Dan

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Chicago FD LODD Firefighter Daniel Capuano, 12-14-15 (more)

CU-2697 CFD 3 Memorial Decal Danirl V. Capuano US FlagFuneral for Chicago FD Firefighter Daniel Capuano – photos from the burial at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery

 

 

 

 

 

 

firefighters at attention

Larry Shapiro photo

funeral for Chicago Firefighter/Paramedic Daniel Capuano

Larry Shapiro photo

Chicago Police Department Honor Guard

Larry Shapiro photo

funeral for Chicago Firefighter/Paramedic Daniel Capuano

Larry Shapiro photo

funeral for Chicago Firefighter/Paramedic Daniel Capuano

Tim Olk photo

funeral for Chicago Firefighter/Paramedic Daniel Capuano

Larry Shapiro photo

funeral for Chicago Firefighter/Paramedic Daniel Capuano

Larry Shapiro photo

Chicago FD honor guard

Tim Olk photo

Chicago PD mounted patrol at funeral

Larry Shapiro photo

funeral for Chicago Firefighter/Paramedic Daniel Capuano

Tim Olk photo

Larry Shapiro photo

Larry Shapiro photo

funeral for Chicago Firefighter/Paramedic Daniel Capuano

Larry Shapiro photo

funeral for Chicago Firefighter/Paramedic Daniel Capuano

Larry Shapiro photo

funeral for Chicago Firefighter/Paramedic Daniel Capuano

Tim Olk photo

funeral for Chicago Firefighter/Paramedic Daniel Capuano

Tim Olk photo

firefighter funeral

Larry Shapiro photo

funeral for Chicago Firefighter/Paramedic Daniel Capuano

Tim Olk photo

funeral for Chicago Firefighter/Paramedic Daniel Capuano

Tim Olk photo

funeral for Chicago Firefighter/Paramedic Daniel Capuano

Tim Olk photo

More photos at shapirophotography.net

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Chicago FD LODD Firefighter Daniel Capuano, 12-14-15 (more)

Funeral for Chicago FD Firefighter Daniel Capuano – photos from the chapel at St. Rita of Cascia High School

funeral for Chicago Firefighter/Paramedic Daniel Capuano

Tim Olk photo

funeral for Chicago Firefighter/Paramedic Daniel Capuano

Tim Olk photo

funeral for Chicago Firefighter/Paramedic Daniel Capuano

Larry Shapiro photo

funeral for Chicago Firefighter/Paramedic Daniel Capuano

Larry Shapiro photo

funeral for Chicago Firefighter/Paramedic Daniel Capuano

Tim Olk photo

Chicago FD Chaplain Father Tom Mulcrone

Larry Shapiro photo

Chicago Police Department motorcycles

Larry Shapiro photo

boy with American flag

Larry Shapiro photo

funeral for Chicago Firefighter/Paramedic Daniel Capuano

Larry Shapiro photo

funeral for Chicago Firefighter/Paramedic Daniel Capuano

Larry Shapiro photo

funeral for Chicago Firefighter/Paramedic Daniel Capuano

Larry Shapiro photo

fire department honor guard

Larry Shapiro photo

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Chicago FD LODD Firefighter Dan Capuano, 12-14-15 (more)

firefighters honor a fallen brother

Tim Olk photo

firefighters honor a fallen brother

Tim Olk photo

firefighters honor a fallen brother

Tim Olk photo

firefighters honor a fallen brother

Tim Olk photo

firefighters honor a fallen brother

Tim Olk photo

firefighters honor a fallen brother

Tim Olk photo

firefighters honor a fallen brother

Tim Olk photo

firefighters honor a fallen brother

Tim Olk photo

firefighters honor a fallen brother

Tim Olk photo

firefighters honor a fallen brother

Tim Olk photo

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Chicago FD LODD Firefighter Dan Capuano, 12-14-15 (more)

radio traffic from the Still & Box Alarm fire at 9213 S. Baltimore 12/14/15

[evp_embed_video url="http://shapirophotography.net/videos/Still%20&%20Box%20Mayday%209213%20S%20Baltimore.mp3"]

thanks Drew

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Chicago FD LODD Firefighter Dan Capuano, 12-14-15 (more)

This from From Bob Daluga,

[evp_embed_video url="http://shapirophotography.net/videos/IMG_0028.MOV"]

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