Firefighters on edge after first coronavirus death in their ranks

Chicago Fire Department brass on Wednesday — one day after the death of a firefighter from the coronavirus — spoke about the anxiety of dealing with a foe, which unlike fire, you can’t just douse with water.

Battalion Chief James O’Donnell said he became wrought with anxiety this week as he watched firefighters quickly get dressed in protective gear to answer a call.

“I was scared for them. There’s nothing I can do. I can’t say, ‘Put a hose here. Put a ladder there.’ They’re walking into this environment that’s invisible,” O’Donnell said of the microscopic virus. “It’s a horrible feeling, the unknown; it’s the unknown that’s scary.”

Deputy District Chief Brian McKermitt said firefighters may be concerned about contracting the virus, but they’re still ready to serve.

“Our job is still to serve and protect and help the people of the city of Chicago. And these guys are doing it admirably, but of course it’s still something that we think about every day,” he said.

Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

Firefighter Mario Araujo, 49, died Tuesday. He spent his 19-year career at a firehouse in Rogers Park. His co-workers gathered outside the firehouse Wednesday to talk about Araujo.

He was healthy and seemingly has no underlying conditions, they said.

“He was just a great guy. For all of us here, this is a big loss. We’re like a big family, so we’re not taking it well. We’re trying to get through it,” McKermitt said, adding Araujo was single.

Araujo was the first member of the fire department to die of the virus.

Another firefighter who worked with Araujo on the same shift has tested positive for the virus, McKermitt said, adding the co-worker is at home and doesn’t have serious symptoms.

At least 46 members of the Fire Department have tested positive for COVID-19 so far. Last week, a 50-year-old undercover officer became the first member of the Chicago Police Department to die of the coronavirus.

Firefighters are wearing face masks, practicing social distancing and sanitizing equipment, but some circumstances call for unavoidably close quarters, O’Donnell said.

Being together inside an ambulance or fire truck are examples. Conversation in such confined spaces is being kept to a minimum to avoid the chance of sending droplets of spit into the air, O’Donnell said.

Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times