07/25/2026
Today marks the anniversary of the murder of FF John Nance of the Columbus Division of Fire. Please give the article a read if you’re unfamiliar with the story.
On July 25, 1987, 51-year-old John W. Nance, an Acting Lieutenant with Engine 2 of the Columbus Fire Department, responded to a massive 3rd-alarm fire at the historic Mithoff Building in downtown Columbus. The building housed Russell's Tall Girls Shoes on the upper floors, with the basement utilized for storage.While battling the blaze in heavy, pitch-black smoke, Nance fell through a hole in the floor that had been burned away, plunging directly into the burning basement. Despite heroic and desperate attempts by fellow firefighters to lower ladders and ropes to pull him out, the extreme fire conditions and structural collapses forced crews back. Nance ultimately succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning.
His murder remains unsolved.
On a hot night in the middle of the summer, somebody torched the old Mithoff Building downtown. A firefighter died there--and his friends and co-workers can't shake the memory of their agonizing inab…
