Charles E. Birkeli - Minneaplis FD

Charles E. Birkeli, Firefighter, Rescue Squad - September 24, 1965

Birkeli died in action at a fire in the Old Dutch Food Company at 4th Avenue South and 3rd Street. Caught on the third floor by a sudden build up of smke and heat, he made his way through a warehouse annex to within a few feet of a fire escape, when the floors of the annex collapsed, carrying him down into a pile of flaming debris. His body was recovered from the rubble ove 12 hours later.