Firefighter Raymond Charles Simonis III, formerly of the Wissahickon Fire Company in Ambler, was posthumously honored on Thursday by Fire Service Line of Duty Deaths, a Facebook group which memorializes and supports the Fire Service Brotherhood.

Simonis passed away on December 19, 2007 at the age of 48.

From their post:

Firefighter Simonis responded as a part of a ladder company crew to a report of fire in a residence. Firefighters found a light haze and electrical smell in the house and determined that the source of the smell was a burned out electrical motor. Firefighter Simonis had helped locate the source and was wearing full turnout gear. Firefighters returned to the station and concluded the incident at approximately 1220hrs. Firefighter Simonis went home and then later went to work. Firefighter Simonis returned home from work in the early morning hours of December 18, 2007. He told his wife that he was having difficulty breathing. An ambulance was called and Firefighter Simonis was transported to the hospital. As Firefighter Simonis was transferred into the care of hospital staff, he became unconscious and died. The cause of death was a heart attack.

Photo: Facebook