Chicago police question man in Rogers Park fire that killed firefighter Michael Altman

By Caroline Kubzansky, Sam Charles
Chicago Tribune

CHICAGO — Chicago police are questioning a man in connection with a Rogers Park fire that led to the death of firefighter Michael Altman.

The man was arrested Wednesday afternoon and was being held on a warrant unrelated to the fire, police sources said. The Tribune is not naming him because he has not been charged with any wrongdoing related to the blaze. An internal bulletin distributed among the Chicago Police Department identified the man as a person of interest in connection with the fire.

| BETTER EVERY SHIFT: Gordon Graham shares words of wisdom

Public records show he has a short history of prior arrests, including one earlier this year for alleged possession of methamphetamine.

CPD representatives said in an email that they had “no further information to release regarding the death investigation” resulting from Monday’s fire.

Meanwhile, the Chicago Fire Department on Wednesday announced the visitation and funeral services for Altman are scheduled for March 26 and 27, at St. Rita of Cascia Shrine Chapel in the Ashburn neighborhood.

Altman was a fourth-generation CFD firefighter who joined the department in May 2024 .

His father served and climbed the ranks to become a battalion chief, and several uncles were CFD supervisors, too. A cousin is still with the department. In the 1990s, his late grandfather led CFD before he resigned amid controversy.

Altman, 32, died Tuesday morning, a day after he suffered critical injuries at the scene of the fire. Altman fell through the floor into a room that was fully on fire, according to a family fundraiser.

“Mike Altman came from a long line of firemen,” 45th Ward Ald. Jim Gardiner, a former CFD firefighter, said Tuesday. “It’s extremely sad, not only for the Altman family, but for the entire Fire Department .”

CFD officials said Altman fell through the floor as a fire ripped through a multistory building in the 1700 block of West North Shore on Monday.

Patrick Cleary, president of the Chicago Fire Fighters Union Local 2, praised Altman’s family’s history of service and said he previously worked with Altman’s uncles in the Fire Department.

“Pray for all the guys and gals that are working every day. It’s a dangerous job, it really is,” Cleary said. “I retired a year ago, I made 37 years without getting injured. I was fortunate. You hope and pray that everyone makes it to their last day, but as you can see, bad things happen.”

Ald. Maria Hadden, whose 49th Ward was the scene of Monday’s fire, said in a statement that Altman’s “bravery and selflessness saved countless lives.”

Altman joined CFD less than two years ago, CFD Commissioner Annette Nance-Holt said Tuesday outside Stroger Hospital. He was assigned to Truck 47 in the Edgewater neighborhood.

“We are heartbroken by yet another loss of our own,” Nance-Holt told reporters. “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.”

“Today, the city of Chicago not only lost a public servant, but we lost a hero,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said 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.”

In keeping with tradition, scores of CFD personnel and other first responders soon lined the streets and saluted as Altman’s remains were transported from Stroger Hospital to the Cook County medical examiner’s office a few blocks away.

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.

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.” By Wednesday morning, the campaign had raised nearly $400,000.

Though the Altmans have been a staple of CFD for decades, the family was at the center of a racially charged controversy that ultimately forced Altman’s grandfather, who died in 2020, to step down as head of the department.

In October 1999, Altman’s grandfather, Edward Altman Jr., resigned as CFD commissioner under pressure from then-Mayor Richard M. Daley.

His ouster came just weeks after one of his sons, Edward Altman III, filed a lawsuit in federal court against the city, claiming he was wrongfully fired as head of CFD’s internal affairs unit.

The younger Altman was ousted in February 1998 for failing to tell his superiors about the existence of a controversial videotape that showed firefighters drinking beer and using racial slurs at a firehouse retirement party, the Tribune previously reported.

But in the lawsuit and later in an interview with the Tribune, the son contended he told his father about the tape soon after learning about it. He charged that the then-commissioner lied to protect his own job after the tape was leaked to the media.

At the time, the commissioner acknowledged to reporters that the episode had produced a “family tragedy.” “But there isn’t anything I can do about it,” he said.

The video “totally reversed people’s feelings about the department, and that is upsetting to me,” Edward Altman Jr . said at the time. “When the chips are down (firefighters) come through and really put out an effort and they get the job done.”

A fast-moving four-alarm blaze in a Flushing building left four people dead, including a child, injured multiple residents and firefighters

Collapse

Firefighter Mike Altman suffered second- and third-degree burns in a floor collapse while battling a fast-moving apartment fire

March 17, 2026 01:39 PM

 · 

A Newark firefighter suffered burns during an early-morning apartment fire that left one victim in critical condition

A Providence firefighter was seriously injured after a 10-foot fall while responding to a power outage that trapped residents in an elevator

March 17, 2026 08:41 AM

 · 

©2026 Chicago Tribune.
Visit chicagotribune.com.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

The primary update to both SCBA models is a regulatory change to the End-of-Service-Time Indicator, adjusting the low-air alarm set point to more accurately reflect the rated cylinder volume