UPDATED: Cincinnati Firefighter Daryl Gordon dies after fall down elevator shaft – Mayor’s briefing & fireground audio
Cincinnati Firefighter Daryl Gordon, 54, died this (Thursday) morning after failing down an elevator shaft at a four-alarm fire. The 11:00 a.m. briefing by city and union officials is immediately below. Further down is fireground audio has been posted to YouTube by firefighterdispatch. The mayday begins at about 6:55.
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The University of Cincinnati Emergency – EMS department reports that the firefighter extricated from the building has died.
Our hearts are heavy with the news a Cincinnati Firefighter died in the line of duty this morning. Rest in peace, sir.
— UC Emergency – EMS (@UCEmergencyEMS) March 26, 2015
EARLIER STORY: Authorities issued a mayday call after a firefighter fell down an elevator shaft while trying to rescue residents from an apartment building in Madisonville early Thursday.
The fire chief said the firefighter, who the mayor confirmed to WLWT as Daryl Gordon, 54, fell down an elevator shaft at the building while responding with Heavy Rescue 14.
“It is with a heavy heart that we announce the death of one of our city’s protectors,” said Mayor John Cranley. “Daryl Gordon passed away this morning after being injured in the line of duty. The term ‘hero’ is often over-used in today’s society, but Daryl truly meets the definition. He valiantly put himself in harm’s way to help residents in the building. It takes a special breed of person to rush into a fire when the natural instinct is to flee. As General Norman Schwarzkopf once said, ‘True courage is being afraid, and going ahead and doing your job anyhow. That’s what courage is.’ Daryl Gordon epitomized this philosophy.”
“You hear the word hero thrown around quite a bit these days,” said Matt Alter, president of the IAFF Local 48. “If there is someone who truly was a hero, that epitomized what it is to be a firefighter, what it was to be a man, it was Daryl Gordon.”
A Cincinnati firefighter died after suffering grave injuries in a large, four-alarm apartment fire early Thursday, according to Mayor John Cranley’s spokesman.
Daryl Gordon, 54, is the first Cincinnati firefighter to die in the line of duty since 2003.
Mayor John Cranley is holding an 11 a.m. press conference to discuss the incident.
Crews issued a “Mayday” when they spotted the firefighter down and worked carefully to rescue him without causing further injury.
“If he comes loose, he falls another floor!” a firefighter shouted on a fire radio.
