Skip to content
News
Link copied to clipboard

Eagles honor mourning family of firefighter

Lt. Matt LeTourneau's brother and sister were presented an Eagles jersey bearing the number 45, the engine company LeTourneau was assigned to when he responded to call last Saturday of a rowhouse fire in North Philadelphia that took his life and a resident's.

During warmups Saturday, Eagles defensive lineman Fletcher Cox, right, visited with Luke LeTourneau, left, and Michelle Ciano, center, brother and sister of Philadelphia firefighter Lt. Matt LeTourneau, who lost his life last Saturday battling a rowhouse fire in North Philadelphia. MICHAEL BRYANT/ Staff Photographer
During warmups Saturday, Eagles defensive lineman Fletcher Cox, right, visited with Luke LeTourneau, left, and Michelle Ciano, center, brother and sister of Philadelphia firefighter Lt. Matt LeTourneau, who lost his life last Saturday battling a rowhouse fire in North Philadelphia. MICHAEL BRYANT/ Staff PhotographerRead moreMICHAEL BRYANT

Last Saturday, tragedy struck Philadelphia as an early-morning rowhouse fire in North Philadelphia claimed two lives – a resident of the rowhouse and a firefighter who went into the burning home and did not come out alive, trapped under rubble when the second floor of the home on North Colorado Street collapsed.

One week later, the family of that firefighter, Lt. Matt LeTourneau, 42, an 11-year veteran with the Philadelphia Fire Department, was honored by the Eagles before Saturday's NFL divisional playoff game against the Atlanta Falcons. Luke LeTourneau and Michelle Ciano, brother and sister of the firefighter, were visited by defensive lineman Fletcher Cox and coach Doug Pederson during warm-ups at Lincoln Financial Field.

They also were presented with an Eagles jersey imprinted with the number 45. LeTourneau, of Springfield, Delaware County, had most recently been assigned to Engine 45 in North Philadelphia.

At a Funeral Mass on Friday at Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul in Center City, attended by about 1,000 firefighters, along with Mayor Kenney, whose father was a firefighter, and other city officials, LeTourneau was lovingly remembered for his dedication to a job he aspired to since childhood and for his compassion for others, including animals.

The cause of the fire in which he and resident Delgera Lane, 61, died has not been determined.

The Fire Department plans to posthumously promote LeTourneau to the rank of captain at its semiannual promotions ceremony Jan. 26.