CHICAGO - A retired Chicago firefighter says an eerie "mayday" call interrupted a memorial service Wednesday honoring a grim milestone in firefighting history.
That milestone was the Union Stock Yards fire that killed 21 Chicago firefighters 100 years ago when a brick wall collapsed.
Two firemen died in Wednesday's fire when a roof and wall collapsed.
Retired fireman Bill Cosgrove says the mayday call about firemen trapped in the South Side fire came in just as victims' names from the 1910 fire were being read at the memorial.
He says firemen at the memorial broke down in tears, and two left to go fight the fire.
Wednesday's fire broke out in an abandoned building. Fourteen firefighters are recovering from injuries suffered in that blaze.