(CHICAGO) A Mount Greenwood neighborhood post office was renamed Sunday morning in honor of a Chicago firefighter killed in the line of duty three years ago in Gage Park.
The Captain Herbert Johnson Memorial Post Office Building at 3349 W. 111th St. commemorates the 32-year Chicago Fire Department veteran, according to a statement from U.S. Rep Dan Lipinski’s office.
“Herbie” Johnson was 54 when died of smoke inhalation while battling an extra-alarm blaze Nov. 2, 2012 in the attic of a home in the 2300 block of West 50th Place. A federal report released a year after the blaze blamed miscommunication, a lack of protective equipment and low staffing levels in his death.
Johnson lived in Morgan Park and came from a family of firefighters and police officers. He served in numerous Chicago neighborhoods and earned the state’s highest award for firefighters, the Illinois Medal of Honor, for rescuing several children from a burning apartment, according to the congressman’s office.
He is survived by his wife of 28 years, Susan; two sons, Thomas and Michael; and a daughter, Laurie.
“Herbie Johnson served heroically and selflessly,” Lipinski said. “Naming a postal facility honoring Captain Johnson is not just a tribute to him and his family, but to all first responders who bravely put their lives on the line every day, often for people they don’t even know.”
