Joyce Craig loved firefighting. She loved being in the action.
“She was a firefighter’s firefighter," her boss, Philadelphia Fire Commissioner Derrick Sawyer, said Tuesday following her line of duty death.
“She had a strong work ethic. She prided herself in working at busy engine companies," he said.
The 36-year-old mother, who recently returned from maternity leave, spent 11 years fighting fires on behalf of the citizens of Philadelphia, one of only 150 women in the department. She earned commendations for helping save lives and was formally trained as an EMT after graduating from Murrell Dobbins Vocational High School.
Craig started her career at Engine 9 in Germantown. Seeking a bigger challenge and wanting to "learn her craft," she transferred to North Philadelphia's often dispatched Engine 45, Sawyer said.
Several years later, she moved to her last firehouse, Engine 64, in Lawncrest. But Craig wasn't working with her assigned engine Tuesday morning.
She was working an overtime shift at Engine 73 in West Oak Lane when she went into the burning basement of a Middleton Street rowhome. It was there, in the darkness and intense heat, that she lost her life, becoming the city's first woman firefighter to die on duty.
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“She was the last one left behind," the commissioner said. "They went back in to search for her and they were not able to get her out before she passed."
Along with being a dedicated firefighter, Craig was a mother raising two children — 16-month-old Laylani Lewis and 16-year-old Mehki Donte Green.
"I know that he’s hurting right now. You’re talking about a teenager that’s doing good in school and an athlete who just lost his mother," Sawyer said.
As the investigation into how Craig became trapped begins, her brothers and sisters in the department also begin to honor her memory.
Engine 64 has been taken out of service to be readied to carry her coffin. The firehouse is now draped in black bunting and above her locker sits a small pot of bright colored flowers -- a reminder of the life now lost.
“Everyone is heartbroken," Sawyer said.
Contact Vince Lattanzio at 610.668.5532, vince.lattanzio@nbcuni.com or follow @VinceLattanzio on Twitter.
