- Credibility:
MONTCLARE — The wife of a Chicago firefighter has died days after a Northwest Side house fire that also killed the couple’s 7-year-old son.
Summer Day-Stewart, 36, was pronounced dead 7:30 p.m. Thursday, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office. Their son, Ezra Stewart, 7, died Wednesday.
Day-Stewart and the family’s three children suffered smoke inhalation in a fire that broke out about 9 p.m. Tuesday in the 2500 block of North Rutherford Avenue, Fire Department spokesman Larry Merritt said.
They were rushed to local hospitals in critical condition, police said. The fire was quickly extinguished, Merritt said. Its cause is being investigated.
A fundraiser supporting the family is online. The Stewart family is facing an “unspeakable tragedy,” organizers wrote.
Firefighter Walter Stewart was on duty at his firehouse when he heard his home address come over the fire radio, according to the fundraiser. He found his house in flames and his wife and children in “grave condition,” according to the fundraiser.
The Sun-Times reported Stewart performed CPR on his wife after a fellow firefighter drove him to the scene.
Jim Tracy, president of Chicago Fire Fighters Union Local 2, encouraged people to support the family.
“Every member of Local 2 and the Department mourns with our brother Walter and the Stewart family,” Tracy said in a statement Thurdsay. “This tragedy weighs heavy on our hearts, and we pledge our ongoing support.”
Patrick J. Quane, a spokesperson for the union, said “no donation is too small.” All funds will go directly to the Stewart family.
Merritt said Walter Stewart’s loss has been difficult for the entire department.
“Anytime someone faces a tragedy, especially when it’s one of our own, we keep them in our collective prayers,” Merritt said.
Listen to “It’s All Good: A Block Club Chicago Podcast”:
