Firefighters Who Died From Coronavirus Get Full Benefits, Honors

CHICAGO — Under pressure from union leaders, fire department officials Monday announced two firefighters who died from complications related to the new coronavirus will receive full line-of-duty death benefits.

Last week, Firefighters Union Local 2 President Jim Tracy told Patch city officials were "sandbagging" first responders by not immediately designating the COVID-19 related deaths of firefighters Mario Araujo and Edward Singleton as on-duty fatalities, which come with full honors and additional financial benefits for their families.

On Wednesday, Tracy said fire Commissioner Richard Ford II informed him in a phone call he didn't have the authority to grant line-of-duty death designations. A fire department spokesman said rulings on line-of-duty deaths are "established outside the fire department."

In a memo released Monday, however, fire Commissioner Richard Ford II announced the he came to the decision after "a review of all pertinent information available."

"Our current situation is unprecedented in the history of our department and will be addressed accordingly," Ford said in a 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."

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Tracy said he wasn't sure why Ford decided he had the authority to make the line-of-duty death designation.

"I don't understand why he decided he could make the call," Tracy said. "I'm just glad the right thing was finally done, but it should have happened from day one."

Ford's memo stated "any death of a [fire department] member will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis" for line--of-duty designation.

Tracy said he thanked Ford for "doing the right thing for our brothers," but he doesn't understand why COVID-19 deaths aren't automatically ruled on-duty fatalities.

"How are they gonna say that the next guy who dies from COVID-19 isn't a line-of-duty death. that makes no sense during the worse-case scenario pandemic in 100 years. Everyday we're responding to people who are sick with COVID-19," Tracy said.

"So, we're telling everybody to make sure to document every positive patient they touch so that everybody knows when you've been exposed."