Molly Glynn
The actress appeared on television programmes such as Chicago Fire and Boss Facebook/Stewart Talent

Chicago Fire star Molly Glynn has died after being struck by a falling tree during a powerful storm.

The 49-year-old actress, who played a recurring role as a doctor on the NBC TV series and was also a talented theatre performer, was riding in Erickson Woods in Chicago with her husband when the freak accident occurred.

According to the AP, the bad weather had taken the couple by surprise on Friday 5 September after they decided to go riding just north of Chicago before her audition.

She was taken to NorthShore University Hospital in Evanston in critical condition, where she was pronounced dead on Saturday morning.

Leading the tributes, David Rice, the executive director of First Folio Theatre, described his family friend as a "one of the most loving and generous people in the Chicago theatre scene".

"She was incredibly talented — incredibly versatile. She could handle both comedy and the deepest, darkest dramas," he said.

"It was a freak accident and a matter of being in the wrong place at the wrong time..

As well as her husband, Glynn is also survived by two teenage sons.

A GiveForward campaign called the Molly Glynn Memorial Trust had raised over $127,000.