CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A ceremony was held Wednesday morning for fallen Chicago Firefighter MaShawn Plummer and the people he was trying to save in a house fire last week.
Dozens of people gathered in the cold at the tiny firehouse at Grace and Menard, housing Engine Company 94.
Firefighters, neighbors, family of firefighter-EMT MaShawn Plummer and Eladio Gomez, who was trapped in the basement of a burning home, and among three that Plummer was trying to save.
"He showed up. I am grateful for the service that he was able to do. He did that job because of his heart," said Plummer's mother Felicia.
MaShawn Plummer, 30, who had been a firefighter for just a year, died at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood days after he was badly burned in an apartment fire in Belmont Central.
Plummer suffered burns to his throat while battling a blaze at a two-story building just after 2 a.m. Dec. 16 in the 3100 block of North Marmora Avenue, officials said.
Plummer was assigned to Engine 94 at 5758 W. Grace St. in Portage Park, Fire Department spokesperson Larry Langford said. He is survived by his parents and four sisters.
"From the moment he got that letter saying it was time for him to report to the training academy, he was so overjoyed," his mother said. "And he told me, this is my time to make a difference."
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Eladio Gomez, 37, died in the fire and another man was taken to a hospital in critical condition, officials said. A woman was also seriously injured.
Eladio Gomez's sister, Nicole Gomez, also spoke Wednesday morning.
"My brother was my person. It was only me and him," she cried. "An amazing person was taken. Two amazing people were taken."
Neighbors brought flowers that were placed in front of the firehouse.
Maria Walker didn’t know Chicago firefighter Mashawn Plummer, but it was important for her to attend a solemn procession Tuesday night honoring his death.
“I have family members who are first responders and I don’t think we do enough for officers and firefighters,” said Walker, director of Early Childhood Education at Rush University Medical Center, about a mile from the morgue where the procession ended.
“I think this is our opportunity to come and show our respect for them and their families,” she said
Firefighters, family, friends and community members gathered at the Cook County medical examiner’s office Tuesday night to show their respect for Plummer.
Firefighters lined up on Harrison and Leavitt streets, creating a path as an ambulance carrying the body of Plummer made its way to the morgue.
“I didn’t know him, but there’s no way to put into words what it’s like losing someone,” said a Chicago firefighter who didn’t want to be named. “It’s not easy. It’s just not.”
Among those in the crowd was Shirley Simmons, who told reporters she was a lifelong neighbor of Plummer’s family and remembered him as kind and generous.
Nicole Gomez said she was moved by the ceremony.
"There's no words. My heart is with every single person in that firehouse," Gomez said.
The last line-of-duty deaths in the department were two firefighters who died of COVID-19 last year.
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Edward Singleton, a 33-year veteran of the department, died April 14 from complications of COVID-19. The 55-year-old worked at the firehouse at Midway Airport and leaves behind a wife and two adult children.
One week earlier, Mario Araujo became the first firefighter of the department to die from the coronavirus. Araujo, 47, joined the fire department in October 2003 and spent most of his career on Truck 25, which operates out of Engine 102 in Rogers Park on the North Side. He was single.
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In May of 2018, diver Juan Bucio died while searching for a missing boater in the Chicago River. Bucio, 46, lost contact with his dive partner during the search. Bucio was briefly a Chicago police officer before joining CFD,
moving to the dive team as soon as he could.
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(WBBM Newsradio and the Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this copy.)