Firefighter dies in Cincinnati apartment building fire

(Reuters) - A firefighter with three decades of service with Cincinnati's fire department died on Thursday after falling five stories down an elevator shaft while fighting a multi-alarm apartment building blaze, officials said. Daryl Gordon, 54, was the first Cincinnati firefighter to die in the line of duty since 2003. "It takes a special breed of person to rush into a fire when the natural instinct is to flee," Mayor John Cranley said in a statement. Gordon, a fire apparatus officer, would have marked his 30th anniversary with the department in June. "We lost a hero today, and we are all mourning," Fire Chief Richard Braun said. (Reporting by Steve Bittenbender in Louisville, Kentucky; Editing by Will Dunham)