1931 – April 13, Fire/Carbon Monoxide Poisoning, sanitary district tunnel, Chicago IL– 11

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 1-20-2025 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

–11  AP. “11 Die As Flames Trap 27 In Tunnel.” Decatur Daily Review, IL. 4-14-1931, p. 1.

–11  “Fires in Which There Was Loss of Life,” NFPA Quarterly, V25, N1, July 1931, p. 98.

Narrative Information

National Fire Protection Association: “The fire causing the largest loss of life recorded in this tabulation was the fire which occurred in a sewerage tunnel under construction in Chicago, Ill., on April 13, 1931.”  Eleven men lost their lives if this fire and sixteen other persons were trapped for fourteen hours in an underground air chamber thirty-five feet below the surface.  Four of the men who lost their lives were firemen and the others were laborers.  All of the deaths are said to have been due to carbon-monoxide poisoning, which occurred after the fire had consumer the oxygen in the tunnel.” (NFPA 1931)

Newspaper

April 14, AP: “Chicago, Apr. 14 – (A.P.) Sixteen men groping in exhaustion, emerged Tuesday from a sanitary district tunnel in which seven workers and four firemen, sent to their rescue, had died after fire and deadly gas raced through the bore last night. As the survivors crawled to safety, after huddling 14 hours in a narrow air chamber, available information indicated that the full extent of the underground disaster was known.

“The body of Capt. James F. O’Neill, eleventh victim of the flames and gas in the blazing west side tunnel, was brought out from a hole bored through 22^nd street at 1:20 p.m. He had not returned to the surface after leading the first rescue squad into the tunnel Monday night.

“In addition to the deaths in the tunnel, a policeman was killed when he stepped in front of a speeding ambulance.

“With the known dead definitely set at 11, the list of injured was estimated at 46.

“The return of the sixteen men this morning from what appeared to be sure death came just as hope was almost abandoned. Rescue squads had groped throughout the night in the deadly fog and heat. Occasionally they would bring up another body. It had been many hours since they had found anyone alive.

“They had saved their lives through twelve hours’ imprisonment by sealing themselves in safety air chambers at one end of the new sewage disposal tunnel.

“Heat that melted the rubber suit of a diver and fumes that choked and blinded the daring rescue squads had forestalled thorough search of the bore until a new smoke-ejecting device rushed here from Kenosha, Wis., was applied to the air shaft.

“Its double-barreled pipes sucked the smoke from the chamber 50 feet underground and forced compressed air down, clearing a path to safety for the entombed men. Once on the surface, they were rushed to St. Anthony’s hospital where 28 other firemen already were patients, suffering from injuries and the effects of gas.

“Tit was a dramatic moment as the first little group of workmen rose to the street.

“Firemen were pumping away, watching the shaft opening tensely, ready to attack any flames that reached the surface and threatened the sheds at the mouth. Suddenly the elevator bell rang. The cage ran up and the grimy faces of the first handful appeared. A tremendous shut went up and firemen and rescuers surged to the entrance of the pit. Again the case dropped, brought up another gang, then a third time to hoist the last load.

“John Yurgen, one of the tunnel workers, told of the horrible night in the underground prison. They had sought refuge in the eastern air chamber when the fire drove them back from the shaft last night. There in the little 22 feet square room they spent the night, some praying, singing at times, some even sleeping despite the stress.

“Through the long hours of waiting for rescue they had been supplied constantly with fresh air pumped down from the surface, and the smoke that had seeped in at first was forced out. But toward 9 o’clock this morning the air supply failed, and the prisonre4s knew they must make a break for the shaft or die of suffocation behind the bulkhead. Making ready, holding their breaths as long as they could, they pushed open the door and dashed for the shaft, now clearing of gas. They rang for the elevator cage and shot up to daylight and safety. These survivors were certain all in their bulkhead had escaped and that none had taken refuge in the western safety chamber.

“The smoke ejector is the invention of Peter T. Pirsch, a Kenosha contractor who hastened to complete his first model at 3 a.m. today and sped here with his son to give the machine its baptismal test. Billows of smoke poured from the tunnel mouth as its pumps began functioning and fresh, cool air was driven into the flaming tube.

“List of Dead in Tunnel Disaster

“Chicago, Apr. 14 – (A.P.) The dead in the Chicago tunnel disaster:

Fireman William Coyne.

Fireman William Karstens.

Fireman Edward Pratt.

John Litwin, laborer.

John Gwalda, laborer.

John Miller, laborer.

John Paleones, laborer.

Joseph Brosdeikis, laborer.

Julius Jurgalis, laborer.

James F. O’Neill, fireman.

“An unidentified laborer.

“Policeman Harry Fielder, killed by speeding ambulance.” (Associated Press. “11 Die As Flames Trap 27 In Tunnel.” Decatur Daily Review, IL. 4-14-1931, p. 1.)

Sources

Associated Press. “11 Die As Flames Trap 27 In Tunnel.” Decatur Daily Review, IL. 4-14-1931, p. 1. Accessed 1-20-2025 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/decatur-daily-review-apr-14-1931-p-1/

National Fire Protection Association. “Fires in Which There Was Loss of Life,” Quarterly of the National Fire Protection Association, Vol. 25, No. 1, July 1931, p. 98.