1 being questioned by police on West Side fire that killed CFD Captain David Meyer
Funeral arrangements announced for next week
CHICAGO (WLS) -- A person of interest is in custody and questioned about arson in connection to the death of a Chicago Fire Department captain, Chicago police said.
It was a rough day Thursday for the firefighters at Engine 96 Ladder 29. Those closest to Captain David Meyer spent part of the day at a procession that transferred Meyer's body from the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office to a Northwest Side funeral home.
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CPD is now handling this as a criminal investigation after the Office of Fire Investigations said the fire was started by someone intentionally igniting the contents of a trash bin.
Captain Meyer is being remembered as a hard working, decades-long public servant.
Firefighters were called a garage fire at about 4:03 a.m. in the 1200-block of Pine Avenue.
The fire was out when part of the garage collapsed, critically-injuring Captain Meyer. The 54-year-old later died at Stroger Hospital.
As his body was taken by ambulance from the hospital, his colleagues and loved-ones honored him with their silence in a procession to the Medical Examiner's Office. It was around midday when the ambulance carrying the remains of Captain Meyer arrived in Norwood Park. Firefighters saluted his casket as it was taken into the funeral home where it will remain for now.
The more than 28-year CFD veteran leaves behind a wife and four children.
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"Her husband will never come home again," Patrick Cleary, president of the Chicago Firefighters Union Local 2. "Their father will never come home again. We work a very dangerous job. "
Thursday, crews tore down the garage, located on the 5500-block of West Crystal in Austin.
Resident Miriam Alonso shared cell phone video of the fire, which she said is just one in a series of dumpster fires that have been set on her block this year.
"It feels horrendous," Alonso said. "There are no words for it."
She was watching in horror as her family's garage collapsed onto Meyer, shortly after a trash bin fire that spread into the garage was put out. She watched it happen.
"This is so traumatizing. I still have it in replay in my head like how it all happened," Alonso said. "I hear them still screaming. I still see the smoke... Everything came down. And it hit him right here. All the bricks fell on top of him. We all witnessed that. And we saw everybody panic, 'he's down, he's down.'"
Officials confirmed that so far this year there have been at least five trash bin fires set on the stretch of West Crystal Street. Two of them caused substantial structural damage after spreading onto nearby properties. Residents believe it's the same person behind all of them.
"It's not an accident," Alonso said. "Like you're lighting something on fire. Obviously you're gong to catch something on fire, you know. Especially you're doing a trash can. Like, it's common sense."
Evidence from the scene has been turned over to Chicago police.
Police confirming that they do have a person of interest in custody they are questioning in connection with the fire, but so far no charges have been filed.
Purple and black mourning bunting now adorns the outside of Engine 96 where Meyer was stationed.
Captain Meyer's funeral arrangements are still pending.
Public visitation for Captain Meyer will take place from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday at Malec and Sons Funeral Home in Norwood Park on Chicago's Northwest Side.
The funeral service follows Tuesday at 10 a.m. at Saint John Brebeuf Church in Niles.
