...entitled to special honorable mention...
The Chicago Fire Department General Order Number 8 from August 1, 1915, announced: "Patrick Egan, Chief First Battalion, is entitled to special honorable mention for rescuing a man in semi-conscious condition from the stoke-hold of the wreck of the Steamer 'Eastland,' by means of a thirty-six foot ladder, at great personal risk, on the morning of Saturday, July 24, 1915, at the southwest end of Clark Street Bridge."
A Chicago Tribune article written at the time of his passing in 1938 mentions that he was “first to take charge of the rescue work in the Eastland excursion boat disaster in 1915” among other aspects of his work for the Fire Department.