Apr 15
From CFD Media on Twitter:
Acting Fire Commissioner Annette Nance-Holt joined Engine Co. 127, other CFD members, and the Singleton family in ringing the bell to honor fallen Firefighter/EMT Edward Singleton. One year ago on April 14th, COVID-19 took Edward from us but he will never be forgotten.
Thank you Edward Singleton for your service and dedication. Rest in peace.
CFD Media photo
CFD Media photo
CFD Media photo
Excerpts from nbcchicago.com:
Chicago FD Paramedic Robert Truevillian, who joined the department in 2000, died from complications of the Covid-19. He was assigned to ambulance 71, which operates out of the firehouse at 10458 S. Hoxie Ave. in South Deering and is the third active CFD member to die from complications of the coronavirus.
On April 7, Mario Araujo became the first fire department member to die from the virus and firefighter Edward Singleton died on April 14.
From CFD Media on Twitter:
Chicago FD Paramedic Robert Truevillian
Sadly we announce the death of CFD PIC Robert Truevillian due to COVID-19. He joined the CFD as a Paramedic in December of 2000. He was assigned to Amb 71, 10458 Hoxie. He becomes the third active duty CFD member to die of COVID-19 complications. God be with him.
Mourning bunting and station flags at half mast at Engine 81 Amb 71. 105 and Hoxie for PIC Robert Truevillian who died from Covid-19.
Mourning bunting and station flags at half mast at Engine 81 Amb 71. 105 and Hoxie for PIC Robert Truevillian who died from Covid-19.
Excerpts from abc7chicago.com:
A somber ceremony honored Mario Araujo, the first Chicago firefighter EMT to die from the coronavirus. His colleagues saluted, his family was honored as they and mourn a loss due to COVID-19 that thousands of others have endured in our state.
Inside the fire academy, Araujo’s mother and family watched his badge, number 5186, be enshrined in the building itself, his sacrifice honored. And it’s not just at the training academy. Araujo is now also honored along the lakefront at the firefighter EMT memorial for all to see. His name is now etched in brick alongside his fallen brother and sister firefighters, now forever part of the city he loved.
From CFD media on Twitter:
Firefighter/EMT Mario Araujo was honored today at the Quinn Fire Academy. FF Araujo was the first member of CFD to succumb to the deadly coronavirus in April. Mario’s service and dedication will always be remembered.
CFD Media photo
Excerpts from fox32chicago.com:
The Chicago Fire Department announced Monday that the families of two Chicago firefighters who died of COVID-19 will receive line-of-duty benefits. The benefits will provide the families of Mario Araujo and Edward Singleton with one-year’s salary and funds for funeral expenses. The department will also assist the families in obtaining other federal, state, and local benefits afforded to members who have died in the line of duty.
“Our current situation is unprecedented in the history of our department and will be addressed accordingly,” Fire Commissioner Richard Ford II said in the statement. “These two members made the ultimate sacrifice to protect those whom they swore an oath to serve. We will not forget our obligation to their families in this time of crisis.”
Any death of a CFD member will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis for determination of line-of-duty status, he said.
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, Araujo became the first firefighter of the department to die from the coronavirus. Araujo, 47, joined the fire department in October 2003. He was single.
As of Friday evening, 109 members of CFD have tested positive for COVID-19, while 37 of them have already returned to duty. There were 12 members quarantined after being exposed to someone who later tested positive for the disease.
Apr 14
Excerpts from the ChicagoSunTimes.com:
Hundreds of Chicago Fire Department personnel and law enforcement officers stood more than 6 feet apart on North Pulaski Road and saluted Monday morning as the hearse carrying Firefighter Mario Araujo traveled to a Northwest Side cemetery.
Araujo’s funeral was attended by a limited number of family members. Hundreds of his colleagues and supporters waited outside the funeral home and eventually joined in the procession to Montrose Cemetery, where a brief ceremony, featuring bagpipes and a 21-gun salute, took place in front of the crematorium. Araujo’s mother was presented with the Chicago flag that draped her son’s casket.
Araujo, 49, joined the fire department in October 2003 and spent most of his career on Truck 25, which operates out of Engine 102’s house in Rogers Park. He died April 7 after a battle with the coronavirus. He is the first member of the fire department to die of COVID-19.
Chicago FD Media photo
Chicago FD Media photo
Chicago FD Media photo
Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com:
Firefighter Mario Araujo, 49, became the first Chicago firefighter that has died from the coronavirus. He worked in the Rogers Park neighborhood for more than 16 years.
Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford wrote on Twitter that Araujo joined the department in October 2003 and spent most of his career at Truck 25. The fire department did not say how Araujo contracted the virus. Langford said department officials will meet with the firefighters union “and look into details of (Araujo’s) death to see how it will be classified.”
Currently, 46 Chicago Fire Department employees have COVID-19.
Last week, Marco DiFranco, a 50-year-old Chicago police officer, died of the virus.
Though officials have not said how DiFranco contracted the disease, his death was classified as a line of duty death.
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