Firefighter Record
Firefighter Details
| Name | MaShawn Plummer |
| Agency | Chicago Fire Department |
| Rank | Firefighter |
| Type of Firefighter | Career |
| Age Range | 26 to 30 |
| Sex | Male |
| Date of Birth | 0/0/0 |
| Date of Death | 12/21/2021 |
| Cause of Death | Contact/Exposure |
| Nature of Death | Asphyxiation |
| Attribute of Death | Smoke inhalation |
| Type of Duty | Firefighting operations |
Incident Details
| Incident Name | N/A |
| Incident City | Chicago |
| Incident State | IL |
| Incident Date | 12/16/2021 |
| Incident Location | Residential |
| Incident Attribute | Basement fires , Fires |
Incident Summary
On December 21, 2021, Chicago Fire Department Firefighter MaShawn Plummer died in the line of duty. Plummer was critically injured battling a fire on the Northwest Side of Chicago on December 16.
Plummer arrived with Engine 94 to a report of a fire in a two-and-a-half-story building on North Mamora Avenue and was assigned as the nozzle firefighter for a residential fire. Engine company firefighters entered the front entrance of the apartment building to locate the fire. They discovered a burning couch in the basement apartment of the building and Plummer was tasked with extinguishing it. As truck company firefighters entered the basement by opening the rear doors of the basement to the outside, a flow path was created between the front and rear doors of the basement that allowed wind to enter. This caused the couch fire to reignite and spread. The fire spread to the point that firefighters who were previously in the basement exited the structure due to the heavy fire and smoke. The location of Plummer was unknown at this time. The words “Mayday, Mayday, Mayday” were heard by some, but not all firefighters, over the radio causing confusion and leading to a delay in the official Mayday declaration. An accountability check was ordered to determine the locations of all firefighters and Plummer could not located. He was found in the dining room of first-floor apartment with the facepiece of his self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) partially off his face and no air flowing from the SCBA. He was removed from the building and taken to the hospital where he later succumbed to his injuries. An inspection of Plummer’s SCBA after the fire revealed that it had multiple issues, including a hole in one hose and a crack in another hose.
Plummer had been with the Chicago Fire Department for one year. He worked at the Engine 94 firehouse.
The funeral service for Plummer was held at House of Hope church on January 6. Hundreds of firefighters from across the nation gathered to honor him.
Citations:
“Career Candidate Firefighter Found Unresponsive at a Residential Structure Fire and Dies 5 Days Later–Illinois,” NIOSH Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program, Report F2021-20, March 2025.
Hundreds of firefighters–from near and far– honor MaShawn Plummer: ‘He gave everything,’” Chicago Sun Times, January 5, 2022.
”The Marmora Incident: Firefighter Seriously Injured and Later Dies After Loss of Accountability at a Residential Fire,” Illinois OSHA Incident Report, Inspection #1569882, 1/12/2024.
“MaShawn J. Plummer,” U.S. Fire Administration, February 3, 2022.
”Mourners remember fallen Chicago firefighter MaShawn Plummer–’a son of the South Side’ who ‘went after what he wanted in life,’” Chicago Tribune, January 6, 2022.
Additional Resources:
https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/firefighters/programs/pdfs/face202120.pdf
Firefighter and Incident Images
