Chicago Fire Department Lieutenant Dies After Bicycling Collision

By Stephen Gossett in News on Oct 12, 2016 2:58PM

A Chicago Fire Department lieutenant died on Monday nearly three weeks after he was struck by a vehicle while bicycling home from the firehouse, according to officials.

Danny Carbol, 56, was riding his bicycle home in Evergreen Park on Sept. 20 when he had to “brake hard to avoid something,” according to CFD spokesman Larry Langford. It appeared Carbol was sent headfirst, over his handlebars, into a car, resulting in traumatic brain injury, Langford told Chicagoist.

Carbol was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead, at 10:05 p.m. on Monday, the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office said. He died of multiple injuries, according to the report.

Aside from decades of service as a firefighter, DNAinfo reports that Carbol was also immersed in local politics, having run a failed bid earlier this year for Republican Committeeman of the 19th Ward, on the Far South Side where he lived.

Ghost Bikes Chicago posted on Facebook on Tuesday that they will reach out to the family about a potential memorial after funeral services have taken place. Funeral and visitation information is available here.

Carbol is the ninth cyclist to be fatally struck in a traffic collision this year in Cook County (Six Chicagoans have been killed in traffic collisions in Chicago this year). Two other cyclists were killed in recent months just beyond the city limits, in Evanston and Franklin Park. The city is expected to release its Vision Zero proposal—which aims to eliminate traffic fatalities—sometime this fall.