John Henrici Obituary, Death – It is with the deepest sorrow that we have to inform you of the demise of John Henrici, who had previously held the position of retired fire chief. When he passed away in Florida the following Wednesday, he had reached the age of 84 years old. Chief Henrici started working for the Elgin Fire Department in February of 1986, and he remained there until August of 2003, when he decided to quit from his position.
In September of 2007, he once again took the role of Chief, and he continued to serve in that capacity all the way up until November of 2010. After fifty years of service in the fire department, Chief Henrici decided it was time to retire. In 1960, he started his career in the fire service by joining the Skokie Fire Department as a firefighter. After those two years had passed, in 1966, the Elk Grove Village Fire Department decided to employ him.
During the course of his employment in Elk Grove, he was eventually given the title of Fire Chief and advanced to that post in the year 1976. In 1981, he began working for the National Fire Administration/FEMA, and he remained in that position until the following year, when he began working for the City of Elgin. In that role, he was responsible for fire prevention and suppression.
In 1979, an accident involving an American Airlines flight (Flight 191) took place, and Chief Henrici was the incident commander at the scene. Throughout his career, Chief Henrici was essential in the development of the MABAS system and served as the incident commander at the collision. In addition, he was the first person on the scene of the accident. During the course of his career, Chief Henrici was instrumental in the development of a variety of areas related to the fire service.
One of these aspects was the obtaining of funds necessary for the construction of the Division 2 Technical Rescue Team and squad. During this difficult time, we would like to offer each and every member of the Henrici family our most sincere condolences. The memorial service will not take place until all of the necessary arrangements have been completed, but those details will be shared as soon as they are.