Nonprofit donates $460,000 to widows, children of fallen firefighters: ‘We’re a family’

Flanked by supporters and family members of fallen Chicago Fire Department firefighters, CFD Capt. Anthony Martin speaks during a news conference at the Quinn Fire Academy about the EMWQ Retirees’ Widows’ and Children’s Assistance Fund, which presented $460,000 to 418 families of fallen CFD firefighters and EMTs on Monday. (Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times)

Jared Pelt lost his father earlier this year when Jermaine Pelt died of smoke inhalation while battling a blaze on the South Side. But the firefighter’s legacy lives on through a fund that will help support the young family he left behind.

On Monday, the Chicago Fire Department presented Jared Pelt, 6, with $11,000 from the Jermaine A. Pelt Memorial Fund at the Robert J. Quinn Fire Academy in the West Loop neighborhood.