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Thirty-five-year-old fire captain, Edward Joseph
Buckley (1868-1924), head of engine 32 on Washington
and Michigan, was one of the firemen who helped
carry victims from the Iroquois Theater. He
was also on hand at the 1910 stockyards fire and would go on to become First Assistant Fire Marshall
in the early 1920s. He became the acting Fire
Marshall when Thomas O'Connor took a medical leave.
An Illinois native, in 1905 Ed Buckley married Julia
Baynes (1871-) with whom he had two sons, Daniel
and Edward. He joined the fire department in
1888, serving first with engine company 14
followed by a half dozen other companies on his way up to
captain and command of engine 28 on Archer and
Deering in 1896. His last service as captain was in
1903 engine company 32.
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Three
months after the Iroquois Theater
fire Chief Musham promoted Buckley to chief of
the first battalion. By 1915 he was first assistant
and in 1923 appointed chief by Chicago mayor William
Dever.
According to his obituary, Buckley had a powerful
physique matched by a character that was fearless
and shrewd, a born leader. He never
missed a day on the job from illness and received no
injuries more serious than bruises or black eyes.
The record of his department was unblemished.
Buckley was fighting fires up to his final days, his last fire being the near
destruction of St. Francis de Sales Catholic church.
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