Homer Fields

Wallace Kumpula

James Toner

43-story plunge

The inner and outer walls of the wooden forms – into which concrete was poured – had to be raised manually to each new floor. To do this, several men would stand around the core, one group on the inside and another on the outside, and use chains to hoist themselves and the forms. The two groups had to work in unison, doing a chore a tower crane would handle today.

On September 15, 1961, 33-year-old Homer Fields, Wallace Kumpula, age 42, and James Toner, 24, all carpenters, were on a scaffold inside the core of the east tower, going up with some forms. A chain being hoisted by a carpenter riding on the inside of the core got caught on a reinforcing bar. When it sprang loose, the form tilted and the three men fell 43 stories and were killed.

A witness who was five feet above the men said he heard a loud noise and turned around. “The bodies bounced crazily,” said Mike Einsele, quoted in the Chicago Daily Tribune the next day, “hitting one obstruction after another, until they hit the bottom.”

When the scaffold fell, it hit a ladder on which a carpenter foreman was standing. Ed Schreck said, “I grabbed a beam right there and hung on. I thought I was a goner, for sure, but I wasn’t going to let go.”

An ironworker grabbed Schreck by his back and dragged him to safety.

The scaffold probably would have hit Will Bridges had he not stepped out of the way moments earlier to get a drink of water. According to Bridges, “Every one inside the core heard them fall.” Workmen dug through the debris at the bottom of the core to recover the bodies. McHugh employee Dick Kenney was working with a carpenter under the State Street Bridge when the accident happened, making forms for concrete. “Right after the accident, workers came to use some of those forms as stretchers, and the carpenter was unhappy that I let them help themselves to the forms.” After work was called off for the rest of the day, one man who could not find his brother went to Henrotin Hospital (since closed) and mistakenly identified one of the victims as his brother. A few minutes later, the man’s brother was found safe back at the construction site. (Left) Headline the next day in the Chicago Sun-Times.

The first lawsuit was filed on December 29, 1961 by Marilyn Fields, seeking damages of $400,000 in the death of her husband, Homer. They had three children. Defendants were Bertrand Goldberg, Marina City Building Corporation, James McHugh Construction Company, and Brighton Construction Company – which did general work on the project. The complaint claimed that scaffolding was unsafe and violated the Illinois Structural Work act, which dealt with workers injured in falls from scaffolding.

The second lawsuit was filed eight months later on August 30, 1962. Rosemary Toner sought $350,000 from the same defendants, on behalf of her and her daughter, Carrie Ann.

Then on September 13, the widow of Wallace Kumpula filed her lawsuit. Martha Kumpula sued for $450,000 on behalf of her and her sons, Glenn, age 15, and Gary, age 9.

Four years later, following a two-week trial before Judge Daniel J. McNamara, settlements totaling $425,000 ($2.8 million in 2010 dollars) were announced on October 5, 1966. The family of Homer Fields was awarded $193,800. Toner’s family got $129,200. Kumpula’s family received $102,000. The two attorneys for the families, John J. Sullivan and William J. Harte, argued there had been no safety lines in use as required by state law.

(Left) A construction worker’s hat, found among debris of the fallen scaffold.