A fourth-generation Chicago firefighter seriously wounded Monday while fighting a blaze in the Rogers Park neighborhood died of his injuries Tuesday, city officials announced.
Firefighter Michael Altman, 32, was injured while working to extinguish a fire in a multi-story building in the 1700 block of North Shore Avenue around 11:30 a.m. Monday. He was taken to Stroger Hospital and was pronounced dead Tuesday morning.
“We are heartbroken by yet another loss of our own,” Chicago Fire Department Commissioner Annette Nance-Holt told reporters outside Stroger Tuesday afternoon. “Michael gave everything in service to the people of Chicago and we will never forget his courage and sacrifice. Our deepest condolences go out to the Altman family, fellow firefighters, friends and all that loved him and knew him.”
Nance-Holt said Altman was new to the department. This coming May would have been his second anniversary with CFD. He was assigned to work Truck 47 in the Edgewater neighborhood.
He was part of a family with a long history with the fire department. Altman was the grandson of former Chicago Fire Commissioner Edward Altman, sources said. Altman served under Mayor Richard Daley from 1996 to 1999.
Before his death was announced, a fundraiser set up for his family noted Altman was “not only a dedicated firefighter, but also a husband and father with a young child at home and another baby on the way.”
“Today, the city of Chicago not only lost a public servant, but we lost a hero,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said outside Stroger Hospital on Tuesday. “Let this be a constant reminder of how important it is that we continue to put our arms around our first responders and continue to support them.”
Fire crews had responded to reports of a fire in a multistory building in the Rogers Park neighborhood just before 11:30 a.m., according to Chicago Fire Department spokesperson Larry Merritt. During a primary search at a structure fire, Altman fell through the floor into a room that was fully on fire, according to the family fundraiser.
The 2-11 alarm fire was struck out at around 1:15 p.m. Nance-Holt said that the cause of Monday’s fire remains under investigation.
The last firefighter to die on duty was Chicago fire Capt. David Meyer in April 2025. Since 2023, at least six Chicago firefighters have died of injuries sustained on duty.
On Tuesday, firefighters, paramedics and other mourners lined the street to watch a procession to the Cook County medical examiner’s office with their arms wrapped around each other. As is customary for the deaths of first responders, a gigantic American flag flapped from a crane outside the morgue.
Near Truck 47 at the firehouse, a pair of turnout pants and boots were seen on the ground.
Chicago Tribune’s Caroline Kubzansky, Jeremy Gorner and Alice Yin contributed.
