Fireman Joseph Kish proves to be true Bridgeport hero
By April Galarza
At an Oct.
10 ceremony honoring him, Lieutenant Joseph Kish of the Chicago Fire
Department, 2nd District Relief, bent down to kiss his son on the forehead.
“Did you hear all those people clap for you, Dad? I’m real proud of you,”
said eight-year-old Joe, who spoke for all of Bridgeport as his father, a
Bridgeport native, received the highest award given to a firefighter by the
City of Chicago for his valor in saving a man’s life.
On Jan. 25 around 1:30 p.m., Kish, who was off duty at the time, was volunteering at his son’s school, St. Jerome's at 2801 S. Princeton Ave. As he repaired locks at the school, a woman he knew tapped him on the shoulder.
“Hey Joe,” she said, “that building’s on fire!” Kish is known around the school as a fireman, and at first he thought she was joking, but then he heard a loud crash of glass and turned around to see the third story of an apartment building engulfed in flames and heavy smoke.
Kish rushed over to the building while his son and his classmates looked on from an upper story window of the school. The firefighter intended to break open the doors and help prepare the entry for the firefighters who would respond. An exterior stairway led to an unused locked second story door; using as much strength as he could muster, Kish managed to kick the deadbolt lock and one of the hinges off and then was able to remove the door.
The sound of the door coming down roused the residents, and several began to flee the building, including a woman wearing a nightgown who was carrying a baby. Kish estimates 11 people escaped the fire. Realizing now that the building was occupied, Kish made the crucial decision to go in despite having no oxygen mask, helmet, or protective gear.
Kish repeatedly asked the fleeing residents if there was anyone else still in the building, but they spoke only Chinese and he could not communicate with them. With his 16 years of experience as a firefighter, Kish knew that if anyone remained trapped in the building they would be on the third floor in a rear apartment. He called 911 to inform the department of his intention to enter the building and quickly proceeded upstairs.
Soon, he heard a man gagging in the bedroom farthest from the third-floor apartment’s entrance. There, Kish found an elderly man frightened and disoriented by the events unfolding around him. The man was half hanging off his bed and had probably just awoken to find his room filled with smoke. Kish helped him to the rear exit of the building, where there was a back porch and stairwell, and then returned to the burning apartment to check the other bedrooms, which were unoccupied. He finally exited the building himself to await and assist the firefighters who had responded to fire.
“It was a no-brainer fire, just get in, do what you've got to do, and get out again,” Kish said. He insisted that being a firefighter is "not all that different" than any other job and that by rescuing the man he simply was doing his.
“You learn to respect it [fire], and you don’t fear it," Kish explained. "When I go to work, I fight fires. You learn what your weaknesses and your strengths are. You respect the fear. You have to respect it because you can get burnt up real easy. You need to know when to get out, and when it’s doable to stay.”
Kish’s act of valor is made even more remarkable by the fact that he had just been released from an extended hospital stay due to injuries sustained while fighting a fire at the Brach Candy Complex at 401 N. Cicero Ave. only three months earlier. His thigh had been burned severely and required skin grafting.
Kish said he had recovered sufficiently from his injury and that it did not hinder his actions during the rescue, although the lack of gear was challenging.
“It’s not the fire that gets you, it’s the smoke," Kish said. "I’ve learned to survive smoke. You have to keep in mind you can only take so much.”
Lieutenant Kish received the Carter Harrison Award, Chicago’s highest honor presented to firefighters. He also was honored with a Mayoral resolution and the 100th Club of Chicago Valor Award, and his name is imprinted on two plaques: one at City Hall and the other at the Chicago Fire Academy.
Despite all the pomp and circumstance of being a hero, Kish remains modest about his achievements.
"There was a lot of attention, that’s all; I don’t feel any different," Kish said. "It’s always great to be respected by your peers. It’s the greatest compliment. But it’s like what they say, you have to stay humble in victory. It’s about what our job does, not about me.”
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