Firefighter Gregory Wood, 19, of Leaf River, Illinois has died in his own house fire. While this may not actually be LODD and LODI – (as yet to be determined) – as significant as this is, we want to pass it on.
Firefighters arrived on scene around 0045 hours this morning and found the first floor of the two-story house fully engulfed.
Three of the residents were able to escape, two of them were transported to Rockford, Illinois hospitals with serious injuries.
After the fire was extinguished, firefighters found Wood in a second-floor bedroom and was pronounced dead.
Two other family members, who are also members in the department, were injured in the fire.
Leaf River Fire Chief Steve Shelton said that he was sleeping when he and his wife were awakened by them knocking on the door.
Wood’s family lives across the street from Chief Shelton. Wood’s father is also a member of the volunteer fire department as one of the two deputy chiefs. Wood’s mother works there as an emergency medical technician and his younger brother serves as a cadet.
Condolences to all those affected.
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A 19-year-old Leaf River firefighter died in a fire in his own home. His parents, who also volunteer as a firefighter and an EMT were injured.
According to the Rockford Register Star, Gregory Wood’s remains were found in a second-floor bedroom in his family’s home after firefighters extinguished a fire reported at 12:39 a.m. today.
Leaf River Fire Chief Steve Shelton, who lives across the street from the Wood family home were the fire occurred told the paper he and his wife were awoken by knocking on the door alerting him to the fire. When firefighters arrived on the scene seven minutes after the 911 came in, they found the house fully involved in flames.
Gregory Wood’s father is one of the department’s two deputy chiefs and his mother is an EMT with the department, according to the newspaper. Both escaped the fire with serious injuries and were hospitalized. Wood’s younger brother, who is a cadet with the department, escaped with no injures, the newspaper reported. The paper also reported the family awoke to a house full of smoke.
The son who was killed in the blaze was a member of the Leaf River Fire Department having joined the ranks a little more than a year ago after completing the cadet program, the newspaper reported.
Deputy Chief Jeremy Glick told the paper the passing of Wood was like losing a family member.
“We’ve never experienced this this close,” Glick told the paper. “We’re grieving the loss of one of our own.”
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Leaf River firefighter found dead in family home after fire, officials say
By Kristen Zambo
Staff writer
November 10, 2017
LEAF RIVER, IL — A Leaf River firefighter, whose immediate family all worked for the Leaf River Fire Department, was found dead inside his family’s home early Friday morning after a fire broke out inside, according to Ogle County sheriff’s and fire officials.
Gregory Wood, 19, was found in a second-floor bedroom at 209 W. Second St. Deputies received a 911 call at 12:39 a.m. Friday reporting the fire and when they arrived seven minutes later, found the two-story home engulfed in flames, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
After firefighters extinguished the flames, Wood was found and pronounced dead by the Ogle County coroner.
Leaf River Fire Chief Steve Shelton told the Register Star that he was sleeping when “me and my wife were awakened by them knocking on the door.”
Wood’s family lives across the street from Shelton. Wood’s father works for the volunteer fire department as one of the two deputy chiefs, Wood’s mother works there as an emergency medical technician and his younger brother serves as a cadet, Shelton said.
Wood’s father, mother and younger brother escaped from the home, and two of them were taken to Rockford hospitals with serious injuries, according to Ogle County Sheriff Brian VanVickle.
The State Fire Marshal’s office and Illinois State Police are assisting the sheriff’s office in the fire investigation, VanVickle said.
Deputy Fire Chief Jeremy Glick said Wood was one of the department’s original cadets and he joined the fire department as a firefighter more than a year ago.
“It’s just like a member of our family passing,” he said.
“We’ve never experienced this this close. We’re grieving the loss of one of our own.”
The family was sleeping when “they got up and there was smoke throughout the whole house,” Glick said. He didn’t know if the family’s cat and dog survived.