‘Not forgotten’: Palatine honors three firefighters killed in 1973 blaze

Current and former Palatine firefighters, community members and families of the fallen turned out Sunday to honor three volunteer firefighters who sacrificed their lives in the line of duty 52 years ago.

John Wilson, Warren “Auggie” Ahlgrim and Richard Freeman were killed fighting a Feb. 23, 1973 blaze in the Ben Franklin store in Palatine’s downtown.

The ceremony Sunday was held at the Palatine Firefighters Memorial, across the street from where the store once stood.

Richard Freeman’s brother, David, said the annual memorial event shows the community recognizes the commitment and service of firefighters.

“They're very valuable assets to a community,” he said. “Sometimes, I think we take them for granted. We shouldn’t.”

Rose Ahlgrim, Warren’s widow, and her son, Dan Ahlgrim, also attended the ceremony.

“I didn’t really know anything that was going on until they came and pulled me out of class,” said Dan Ahlgrim, then a 7-year-old attending Pleasant Hill Elementary School. “You don’t really believe that it’s happened.”

“It's just an awesome feeling that he's not forgotten,” he added.

Rose Ahlgrim recalls her husband responding to the fire call that morning and seeing the smoke from the fire from the front window of the family home.

“He figured it was just another fire call. You don’t think anything of it,” she said.

Her father later stopped by for coffee and said some of the firefighters were trapped.

Ahlgrim, who also owned a plumbing and heating business, along with Wilson, the store’s owner, and Freeman, who helped run his father’s hardware store, were killed while battling the fire in the store’s basement.

The fire and tragic deaths became the impetus for Palatine to launch a professional, full-time firefighting service.

Two former firefighters who were on the scene of were among those gathered Sunday.

“This memorial really means so much,” said retired fire Lt. Bill Noland, who fought the blaze from the store’s roof.

Jim-“E” Clarke, who would later spend decades with the Chicago Fire Department, brought with him a flashlight he had bought three weeks before the fire from Freeman’s hardware store — he said Freeman gave him a $3 discount.

It’s been used in many subsequent rescues, he said.