Chicago firefighter dies: Prayer vigil planned at Engine 94 in Portage Park, where Mashawn Plummer was stationed for CFD

CHICAGO (WLS) — Firefighters and loved ones will gather Wednesday morning to remember a fallen Chicago firefighter and EMT.

There was a procession Tuesday night in honor of 30-year-old Mashawn Plummer. He died five days after he was critically hurt in a fire on the Northwest Side.

Dozens of firefighters, family and friends lined the streets to honor Plummer during the procession from Loyola University Medical Center to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.

“I loved this,” said Shirley Simmons, a friend. “He got his honor. He got his special treatment. I’m quite sure the family is very, very proud.”

A lifelong neighbor of Plummer and his family, Simmons said the ceremony honored a one-of-a-kind man.

“He was just, like, the kid on the block that likes to do things for people. Mashawn would give you the shirt off his back,” she said.

Plummer is survived by his mother, father and four sisters.

“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.”

A prayer vigil will be held Wednesday at 7:50 a.m. at Engine 94 in Portage Park, where Plummer was assigned.

One civilian died in the blaze in the 3100-block of North Marmora Avenue in Belmont Central, and two others were injured Thursday.

The fire broke out just after 2 a.m. in the basement of a two-story apartment building next to St. Ferdinand Church.

RELATED: Chicago firefighter among 3 critically injured in Belmont Central apartment fire; 1 killed

Plummer, who had just celebrated his first anniversary with the Chicago Fire Department, was first taken to Community First Hospital and then transferred to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood where he could be treated in their specialized severe burn unit.

He was listed in critical to very critical condition for the duration of his hospitalization. The fire department confirmed he died Monday afternoon.

Sen. Dick Durbin, Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Governor JB Pritzker also tweeted to honor Plummer after his death.

The last line-of-duty deaths in the department were two firefighters who died of COVID-19 last year.

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.

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.

The cause of the Belmont Central fire is still being investigated.

Sun-Times Media contributed to this report.