Members of the Naperville Fire Department, along with city officials and community members, gathered to pay tribute to the city’s fallen heroes during the fire department’s Fallen Firefighters Memorial on Thursday morning.
The annual event at Firemen’s Memorial Park honors late firefighters Bernard Petrowski, Lieutenant Richard Rechenmacher, and Engineer Jerry Herring, who were killed in the line of duty in 1970, as well as Lieutenant George Winckler, who died of a heart attack during a training exercise in 1991.
Community remembers fallen firefighters
“We never forget them, so we constantly do this memorial as a tradition, and we do it right before Memorial Day…We’re very proud of what we can do for the families of those that did pay the ultimate sacrifice,” said Naperville Fire Chief Mark Puknaitis.
Also remembered was EMS Division Chief Doug Erwin, who died of cancer in January 2025, and all firefighters nationwide who have lost their lives…