Chicago firefighter dies after falling through light shaft while battling blaze

CHICAGO (AP) — A Chicago firefighter died Monday from injuries he suffered when he fell through a light shaft at a burning building, officials said.

Andrew “Drew” Price, 39, was helping battle a fire at a four-story building in the Lincoln Park neighborhood that began about 6 a.m., Fire Commissioner Annette Nance-Holt said.

Price was on the roof opening up holes for ventilation when he fell through a light shaft while putting out hot spots, Nance-Holt said, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

She said a “mayday” was called and Price was located right away, but fellow firefighters needed to breach a wall to reach him. He was taken to the Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where he died of his injuries, the commissioner said.

Price had been a Chicago firefighter since 2009, Nance-Holt said.

“We all knew Drew,” she said. “Drew worked out. He was a health nut. Loved by so many and will be missed by all.”

Fire department spokesman Larry Langford said it was too early to know what started the blaze. It damaged the inside of the building, which houses a ground-floor restaurant and apartments upstairs and is near the Lincoln Hall music venue, WLS-TV reported.

Price was the fourth Chicago firefighter to die in the line of duty this year.

“This job is a very, very dangerous job and we go to work and we never know if we’ll come home,” Nance-Holt said.