Eisenhower High School Mourns Loss Of Fallen CFD Firefighter

CHICAGO — Dwight D. Eisenhower High School is mourning the loss of MaShawn Plummer, the Chicago firefighter who died Tuesday after being injured in the line of duty battling a fire last week on the city’s Northwest Side. Plummer had recently observed his first anniversary, joining the Chicago Fire Department Dec. 1, 2020 as a firefighter/EMT.

Plummer was severely injured battling a “wind whipped” intense fire in the Belmont-Central neighborhood on Dec. 16, Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said. Firefighters had been called to a basement fire in a two-story apartment building in the 3100 block of North Mamora Avenue.

Although the fire had been struck within minutes, Langford said because of the wind, the flames grew intense for a short time. Plummer was pulled out of the building and transported to Community First Hospital, and later to Loyola University Medical Center for more advanced treatment, where he lingered for five days in critical condition. Plummer died of his injuries on Tuesday.

Another person, Eladio Gomez, 37, died as a result of the fire. A man and a woman were also injured.

Plummer attended Hales Franciscan High School in Chicago’s Kenwood neighborhood and then transferred to Dwight D. Eisenhower High School in Blue Island, where he graduated in 2009.

Eisenhower teacher and current varsity girls basketball head coach Mike Curta, who coached Plummer for the Cardinals boys basketball team, said he was “absolutely gutted” by the news of his former player’s death.

"This guy right here #33……whole focus was the team,” Curta said of a tweeted photo of the 2008-2009 Eisenhower varsity boys basketball team. “So big and strong, but such a gentle soul. Smile welcomed everyone and work ethic off the chart. MaShawn Plummer made me a better teacher and coach.”

Plummer was assigned to Engine 94 firehouse, at 5758 W. Grace St. in the Portage Park neighborhood.

The high school also offered condolences to the Plummer family on the Eisenhower Facebook page:

“It is with the heaviest heart that we share the news of the death of Eisenhower graduate MaShawn Plummer. MaShawn, who graduated with the Class of 2009, died in the line of duty with the Chicago Fire Department.”

On Wednesday, friends and family members held a prayer vigil for the fallen firefighter at Engine 94 Firehouse in Portage Park, where Plummer had been assigned. Joining the gathering were family members of the deceased man, Eladio Gomez, 37, who lived in the building. Gomez was one of four people, including Plummer, who had been pulled out of the burning building.

Felicia Townsend Plummer said that her son believed in service. Plummer grew up in Englewood and went on to play football at Quincy University, where he became the first person in his family to attend college. He was studying pre-law when he took the police and firefighter’s exam and scored well. Plumber worked various jobs for seven years, waiting for an opening with the Chicago Fire Department.

“He had to know he was in trouble,” Plummer’s mother told the Tribune. “But he wouldn’t change anything. Even though he’s gone, he would not change his life one bit. That’s the peace that we take away from this, that he died doing his heart’s desire.”

The cause of Plummer’s death was listed as pending by the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office. Langford said Plummer didn’t suffer burns, but may have gone into cardiac arrest before he was found, the Tribune reported.

Langford added that December is a rough month for the fire department, which has had its largest loss of life. Twenty-one Chicago firefighters lost their lives in December 1910 fighting a fire at the Union Stock Yards.

In more recent years, Chicago firefighters Corey Ankum and Edward Stringer Sr. died in the line of duty Dec. 22, 2010, when the roof of an abandoned laundry building collapsed on them. Ankum’s wife was the personal secretary of then Mayor Richard M. Daley.

CFD Daniel Capuano, who also served as a part-time firefighter for Evergreen Park, died in the line of duty in December 2015, when he fell through an unprotected elevator shaft while fighting a fire in a Chicago warehouse that was undergoing construction.

Plummer is not married and is survived by his parents and four sisters.

An honorary procession escorted Plummer’s body Thursday afternoon from the medical examiner to Leak and Sons Funeral Home on Cottage Grove.