On Dec. 17, 1953, a hotel on Chicago's skid row collapsed, trapping about 30 firefighters as they were taking up from a fire, according to the United Press and the international News Service.
Investigators suspected hotel resident John Tybor, who was released from a mental hospital a day earlier, set the fire after they found a note on his body saying : ``I'm really crazy.''
A fire department chaplain, Monsignor William Gorman, picked his way through the ruins and administered the last rites of the Roman Catholic Church.
Lieutenant Albert Joslin, who plunged three stories to the basement, said from a hospital bed: ``I'm lucky I got out in as good shape as I am. As the noise of falling debris settled down, we started yelling among each other to see who could move.''
Five firefighters died.
They were:
Capt. NICHOLAS SCHMIDT, battalion commander
ROBERT JORDAN, Truck 2.
ROBERT SHAACK, Hook and Ladder 19
GEORGE MALIK, Engine 34.
JOHN JAROSE, Engine 31.
Tybor died too.
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