CFD Veteran Dies During North Side Training

Chicago Fire Department engineer Steven Decker died on May 14 during a training exercise in the West Ridge neighborhood on the city’s Far North Side, according to fire officials and the Cook County medical examiner. CFD said the incident happened shortly after 3 p.m. in the 6600 block of North Kedzie Avenue. Decker, 61, was taken to St. Francis Hospital in Evanston, where he was pronounced dead at 4:08 p.m., according to local reports citing the medical examiner and fire officials. The department announced his death later that day and said a procession to the medical examiner’s office was pending. ### Who was the firefighter who died? Steven Decker was a 30-year member of the Chicago Fire Department and worked as an engineer assigned to Engine 71, according to CFD, union officials and local television reports. The Cook County medical examiner identified him as 61 years old. Local reports said he had been with the department since 1997. (nbcchicago.com) Engine 71 is based in West Ridge, and Ald. Debra Silverstein said in a public statement that Decker served the department with “honor and dedication” for nearly three decades. ABC7 reported that colleagues described him as meticulous with apparatus and equipment. ### What was happening on North Kedzie when he suffered the emergency? (nbcchicago.com) ABC7 reported that Decker suffered a medical emergency during an equipment test, and Chicago Firefighters Local 2 President Pat Cleary said he was participating in twice-a-year mandated hose testing. CFD said only that Decker died after a training exercise in the 6600 block of North Kedzie Avenue. Officials had not publicly released a fuller account of the sequence of events as of May 17. (fox32chicago.com) CBS Chicago reported that during the test, firefighters run water through hoses, raise the pressure for several minutes and inspect the hoses for leaks or signs of failure. That description came as officials continued to withhold the cause of death and additional details about the exercise. ### Where did the incident happen, and what happened afterward? (abc7chicago.com) The training took place in West Ridge near the 6600 block of North Kedzie Avenue, according to CFD and multiple Chicago news outlets. After Decker was taken to St. Francis Hospital, first responders held an honor procession from the hospital in Evanston to the Cook County medical examiner’s office, with emergency vehicles lining parts of the route, local stations reported. (cbsnews.com) Chicago police said in a statement that the department stood with its “brothers and sisters” at CFD and asked the public to keep Decker’s family and loved ones in their prayers. CFD Local 2 said it was mourning the loss of “Engineer Steven Decker of Engine Co. #71.” ### What have officials said about the cause of death? (nbcchicago.com) Cook County medical examiner records identified Decker but, in the reports available through May 17, public accounts did not include a final cause of death. Fox 32, WGN and ABC7 each reported that officials had not released details on the cause and that the investigation remained ongoing. (nbcchicago.com) The Chicago Fire Department has not publicly described the death as resulting from equipment failure, and no public statement reviewed here said another firefighter was injured in the incident. Sun-Times reported the exercise was unrelated to a separate water rescue demonstration held earlier that day near Navy Pier. (fox32chicago.com) ### How does this fit into the department’s recent losses? WGN, FireRescue1 and other local reports said Decker’s death was the department’s second line-of-duty loss in less than two months, after firefighter Michael Altman died in March following injuries suffered at a Rogers Park fire. Those comparisons came from news reports and union statements as tributes to Decker spread across the city’s public safety agencies. (chicago.suntimes.com) As of May 17, the next public facts are likely to come from the Cook County medical examiner and the Chicago Fire Department, which have not yet published a final cause of death or a fuller investigative account of the May 14 training incident. (cookcountyil.gov) (wgntv.com)