Excerpts from abc7chicago.com:
Chicago Firefighter Jermaine Pelt died after an extra-alarm fire in the West Pullman neighborhood Tuesday morning. The beloved father of two has been with the department for 18 years, serving the Roseland community.
Just celebrating his 49th birthday last month, Pelt was with his crew early Tuesday morning fighting a fire near 120th and Wallace streets. The fire started in a home and quickly spread to the adjacent buildings. That’s where Pelt was was on a hose line inside the home when conditions worsened and he and his crew had to get out. When his lieutenant didn’t see him come out, they knew something was wrong. A mayday was called and he was quickly found near the hose line and brought out for treatment.
“The chief asked us if we wanted to be out of service and we said no, because this is what Jermaine would do. Jermaine wouldn’t take the day off,” said CFD Capt. Rory Ohse.
Pelt recently walked his daughter down the aisle, and she is on her honeymoon right now. She got the news on Tuesday morning, and is rushing home. His family took part in his procession to the medical examiners office. Pelt also left behind a 6-year-old. He was a soft-spoken man with a heart of gold, who was also a registered nurse and a paramedic. For the last two years, he volunteered at the academy as an instructor.
Two other firefighters had minor injuries and are OK. Two adults and two children were displaced after the fire, all of them are OK.
The fire investigation team is working to determine a cause of the fire.
