The Chicago Tribune has a followup article HERE updating the events of Thursday evening and the conditions of the injured firefighters. Excerpts include the following:
As a badly burned Chicago fire captain was being helped from a blazingWest Englewood attic Thursday night, he realized another firefighter was still in danger.
“My guy is still up there! My guy is still up there!” yelled Capt. Thomas Ruane, prompting other firefighters to charge up the stairs, Deputy District Chief Bob McKee said Friday.
On entering the smoke-filled attic, firefighters heard the piercing shriek of an alarm on firefighter Gerald Carter’s breathing equipment, an indication he had been motionless for at least 15 seconds. Following the alarm’s sound, another firefighter found Carter and rushed him out of the house, McKee said.
Department officials said the rescuers’ quick reactions to the rapidly worsening conditions likely saved Ruane and Carter from more severe injuries.
… the two firefighters assigned to Engine 54 …
Ruane, 52, was burned on his ears and the back of his neck, and Carter, 31, was burned on his left hand and forehead.
Kevin Abdullah, 49, the firefighter who helped Ruane out of the house, was treated for exhaustion at Mount Sinai Hospital and released Thursday night, fire officials said. A fourth firefighter, Sean Finn, 44, was also treated at Loyola for a burn to his neck but was released early Friday, officials said.
