Wilmette Firefighters Grieve Over Inability to Save 100-Year-Old Woman

The whole community is dealing with the loss of 100-year-old Opal Reifenberg — including the firefighters who fought so hard to save her life.

Reifenberg died on Saturday after a fire broke out in her condo on the 600 block of Ridge Road. The cause of the blaze is still under investigation.

“They transferred her, so we thought she had a chance,” Deputy Fire Chief Mike McGreal said on Monday. “There’s always that feeling of hope. Like anyone else, we’re grieving, always questioning if we did something right, if we could have done something better.”

McGreal noted that the firefighters are dealing with Reifenberg’s death “just like [she] was a family member.”

An estimated 28 people from nine fire departments — Winnetka, Evanston, Glenview, Northfield, Skokie, Morton Grove, Highland Park and Lincolnwood — helped fight the flames, containing it in Reifenberg’s unit and preventing it from spreading to the other nine units in the building. Four other residents were able to evacuate.

Clinical Incident Stress Debriefing is available through the Illinois Fire Chief Association. While the department has used it on occasion, it’s typically used in the loss of a fellow firefighter, or when children die or there are multiple fatalities. McGreal said the department will not use the service for this incident.