Chicago Fire Capt. David Meyer dies in Austin blaze investigated as arson

After nearly 30 years with the Chicago Fire Department, Capt. David Meyer died fulfilling his passion Wednesday morning after a roofing beam fell on him during a blaze that officials are investigating as arson in Austin on the West Side, officials said.

The Office of Fire Investigation, assisted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said the fire was from ignition of contents in a trash bin “by human action.” Chicago police are investigating the blaze as a crime, adding a person of interest was in custody Wednesday evening but didn’t release additional information.

Chicago Fire Fighters Union Local 2 said Meyer, 54, joined the department in October 1996.

“He spent most of his career on the West Side of Chicago in busy firehouses doing what he loved to do,” Fire Department Commissioner Annette Nance-Holt told reporters at Stroger Hospital.

“He was a loyal member doing his job … a dangerous job,” Patrick Cleary, president of Local 2, told the Chicago Sun-Times. “Our condolences to his family and co-workers.”

Larry Langford, fire department spokesman, posted on X: “It’s a sad day for CFD and Chicago.”

Just after 4 a.m., Meyer was among those who responded to a garage fire in the 5500 block of West Crystal Street when the structure collapsed, Nance-Holt said.

“It had to be a roofing beam, there’s nothing there except a few cross beams in the roof, so something got him from above,” Langford said.

A mayday, signaling a firefighter in distress, was called and Meyer was taken to Stroger Hospital where he was pronounced dead, Nance-Holt said.

Dozens of colleagues and loved ones gathered at the Cook County medical examiner’s office to mourn and pay their respects to Meyer as his body was escorted in following a formal procession. He worked at Engine 96, 439 N. Waller Ave.

Meyer was the “rock of his family,” the fire commissioner said. He is survived by his parents, his wife, three daughters, a son and a “host of other friends and family,” Nance-Holt said.

Nance-Holt appeared to wipe away a tear as she spoke about Meyer’s death while noting the department reported no line-of-duty deaths in 2024.

“We got through last year, and now here we are again, thinking that we escaped that,” Nance-Holt said. “When you lose a brother or sister [in] the fire department, it’s life-changing. It’s a family member, it’s not just a co-worker.”

Mayor Brandon Johnson, who also delivered remarks during the media briefing, called Wednesday morning “a solemn morning for the City of Chicago.”

“We mourn collectively together, asking that the people of Chicago pray without ceasing for the Meyer family [and] for the fire department,” Johnson said. “Capt. David Meyer really embodies and embodied what it meant to be a true Chicagoan and public servant. A hero, courageous, brave, bold.”

Johnson added that Meyer’s death marked a difficult time for Chicago but that “our city is strong.”

“I will continue to call on all of us to come together during this time of grief and loss, but I’m confident that through prayer, through support, we’ll get through it,” Johnson said. “We’ll get through it together.”

The last firefighter to die in the line of duty was Andrew Price on Nov. 13, 2023, after he fell through the shaft of a skylight and landed on the basement floor while battling an extra-alarm blaze in the 2400 block of North Lincoln Avenue.

Three more firefighters died in the line of duty in 2023. Kevin Ward died from injuries suffered while battling a house fire on Aug. 11, 2023, in the 8300 block of West Balmoral Avenue. Jan Tchoryk died of a heart attack after responding to a Gold Coast high-rise blaze on April 5, 2023, and Jermaine Pelt died a day earlier while working to put out an extra-alarm fire in West Pullman.

“We go to work every day, and you know, we never know if we’re going to come home,” Nance-Holt said. “But this is what he loved to do, and he was really good at it.”