An Illinois fire captain was killed and three other firefighters were injured while battling a fire at a house that partially collapsed on them Tuesday evening.
Godfrey Fire Protection District Capt. Jacob "Jake" Ringering, 37, was hurt during a mutual aid call at a burning home in Bethalto, a district press release stated. Ringering was taken to the hospital, where he later died of his injuries, KSDK-TV reports.
Another Godfrey firefighter, Luke Warner, also was hurt when part of the house gave way, and he was airlifted to a St. Louis hospital, where he's in stable condition, the district said.
According to the Belleville News-Democrat, two other injured firefighters were taken to a local hospital, and they were treated and released. The identities of those firefighters have not been released, and it's not clear if they were from Godfrey or another department—firefighters from the Fosterburg Fire Department initially arrived at the scene before calling for help from crews from Bethalto, Brighton, Cottage Hills, Dorsey, as well as Godfrey—that responded to the blaze.
Ringering—who is survived by his wife and three young children—had been with the Godfrey Fire Protection District since August 2010, according to his LinkedIn page. He also was a fire service instructor at Lewis and Clark Community College in Godfrey since September 2005, the LinkedIn page stated.
"He was a good fireman, I can tell you that," Steven Rynders, who served on the Godfrey Fire Protection District's Board of Trustees when Ringering was hired, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "He took his training very seriously. He went to school and got the knowledge to do it right."
Fire service ran in Ringering's family. His dad had been fire chief in East Alton, the department where the fallen captain started his career, the Post-Dispatch reports.And his maternal grandfather retired as a captain at East Alton.
"I've known Jake since he was a kid," East Alton Chief Rodney Palmer told the Post-Dispatch. "He's just a great all-around man."
The Illinois State Fire Marshal’s office is investigating the cause of the fire, according to the News-Democrat.
