More than 800 people-including representatives of 83 fire, police and emergency service departments-attended funeral services Saturday for Doug Maicach, who last week became the first South Holland firefighter to die in the line of duty. 

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On January 3, 1989, Firefighter Douglas Maicach of the South Holland Fire Department died in the line of duty while fighting a fire at the headquarters of a trucking company. Maicach had just arrived at the fire when a sixty-pound propane tank on a burning forklift truck exploded. The tank was thrown more than thirty feet and struck Maicach in the parking lot as he was unloading a hose from a fire engine. The tank continued to travel another 125 feet after striking Maicach. 

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Maicach had been a firefighter with the South Holland Fire Department for five years, first as a paid-on-call firefighter and then, beginning in 1988, as a career firefighter. At the time of his death, he was in the process of becoming a certified paramedic. He was laid to rest at Oak Ridge Cemetery in Lansing, Illinois. On May 30, 1992, a local South Holland park was renamed Maicach Park in his memory. 

Our thoughts and prayers are with the Maicach family and the Chicago Police Department. To donate in memory of Firefighter Maicach, please visit our Fallen Heroes Donation page.