Dave Statter has done a pretty good job of putting all the news together about the building that killed Firefighters Edward Stringer and Corey Ankum.

Visit that article here. One link about that information is here.

For Previous Coverage on the Chicago LODD’s click here and here and here.

ChicagoBreakingNews.com on Corey Ankum:

Corey Ankum: ‘He was a natural born leader’

Ankum grew up around 92nd and Green streets and moved with his family to Lynwood when he was about 14. He played football and baseball but excelled at basketball, a sport he still loved playing. He also enjoyed cooking and drawing.

Family said that, after graduating from Thornton Fractional South High School, he played basketball at area colleges and later graduated from Kendall College. He decided to take both the Chicago police and fire tests and was accepted first by the Police Department.

Ankum spent about a year as a patrol officer in the South Chicago District, family said, but, after the Fire Department told him it had a probationary spot, he decided to move to what he thought was a less dangerous job.

“He actually switched over because he thought it was safer, and he didn’t want his wife to be up worrying as much as she was when he was on the force,” Charmain said.

Ankum married Dameka, whom he met after she enrolled her daughter at a Chicago day care the Ankum family used to run, about three years ago. Dameka, who works as a secretary in Mayor Richard Daley’s office, has two daughters, Baylee, 10, and Demia, 13.

ChicagoBreakingNews.com on Edward Stringer:

Edward Stringer: ‘He just loved being a fireman’

News of his death rippled down the Southwest Side street where he lived and all the way into rural Wilmington in southern Will County, where Stringer camped on days off since 1996.

“He was a good guy. He helped people,” said Monica Murdaugh, manager of the campground, Lakepoint Club. “(His death has) affected a lot of us.”

Stringer, who was divorced, had a side job as a home inspector, but firefighting was his passion, friends said.

He was a “real man and a damn good fireman,” said a comrade at Engine 63, where Stringer worked. A shift commander there described the scene inside the station as brokenhearted. Firefighters, the commander said, were in mourning.

One firefighter who knew Stringer said of him: “Crazy as all get out. You talk about somebody that was a firecracker around the firehouse — a lot of fun. I’m going to tell you right now, if you couldn’t catch, you couldn’t work with Eddie, because Eddie was bringing it. He was bringing it.”

He said that Stringer was in a motorcycle accident a while back and was out of work for a lengthy period, costing him his spot on the truck he was then on.

Here are some links to learn more about these two Fallen Brothers…

2 Firefighters Killed: How to Help

• ‘We are all devastated’ by death of 2 firefighters
• Fallen firefighter’s brother: ‘He was doing his job’
• Editorial: Saluting 2 heroes who gave their all
• Fatal fire: Building owner told to fix roof in 2007
• Who Were the Firefighters Killed in Deadly Chicago Blaze? About Corey Ankum & Edward Stringer

On a personal note here at Fire Critic…It just goes to show that these guys aren’t alone…They have 343 guys along with them. Just look at the screenshot of FireCritic.com below.

2 Firefighters Killed: How to Help: MyFoxCHICAGO.com