Bells rang out on the South Side in honor of Chicago firefighter and paramedic Daniel Capuano, who died in the line of duty 10 years ago Sunday.<\/p>\n
At the Engine Co. 72 fire station in Avalon Park, dozens of Chicago Fire Department members and Capuano\u2019s close family and friends stood together, red-cheeked and sipping coffee, catching up with one another. Outside, fire trucks, one with a plastic Santa Claus atop, flashed their lights. A prayer was followed by loving words from family and colleagues who knew him.<\/p>\n
Capuano died after falling into an open elevator shaft while battling a fire<\/a> in a vacant South Side warehouse on Dec. 14, 2015. The 43-year-old was the father of three and a 15-year member of the Chicago Fire Department.<\/p>\n Known for his sense of humor, Capuano\u2019s daughter, Amanda Capuano, believes that had her dad been there with them, he would\u2019ve lifted their spirits.<\/p>\n \u201cI think he would definitely have cracked a joke to lighten up the mood because that\u2019s just kind of who he was,\u201d said Amanda, 26. \u201cHe definitely would be so honored to see everyone gathered here for him.\u201d<\/p>\n She was 16 when her father died. She grew up aspiring to be a high school history teacher, but after her father\u2019s death, she chose to go into nursing. Today, she is an emergency room nurse at a suburban hospital.<\/p>\n \u201cI felt so angry the first few years after it happened, and then one day I decided, I can do better than this,\u201d Amanda Capuano said. \u201cI can be better than this, and I\u2019m gonna make sure this never happens to anybody else.\u201d<\/p>\n She graduated from nursing school at Loyola University Chicago in 2022, and attended Mother McAuley High School in Mount Greenwood. She remembers her father driving for hours to make it to her cheerleading competitions.<\/p>\n In 2015, Amanda wrote a letter<\/a> that was read by her father\u2019s co-workers at his funeral. \u201cBack in 8th grade, during the blizzard, he took the train down to see me compete at state,\u201d she wrote. \u201cI forgot my coat in the hallway and my dad made me wrap towels around my shoulders so I didn\u2019t freeze.\u201d<\/p>\n At Sunday\u2019s service, she stood next to her brother Andrew, 24,<\/a> who this summer started working as a Chicago firefighter like their dad.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d like to think we all learned from him and followed in his footsteps in a way,\u201d Amanda Capuano said.<\/p>\n Capuano\u2019s widow, Julie, said seeing everyone at the memorial service for her late husband \u2014 from firemen to hockey kids he used to coach \u2014 made her heart feel warm.<\/p>\n