What to Know
- Penn Wynne/Overbrook Hills Fire Company Firefighter Sean DeMuynck died while fighting a fire in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, Sunday night.
- The July 4th blaze broke out around 10:30 p.m. on July 4th. It remains under investigation.
- DeMuynck was honored Wednesday with an escort to the funeral home.
Firefighters and law enforcement from throughout Montgomery County and beyond are honoring the sacrifice of fallen Penn Wynne/Overbrook Hills Fire Company firefighter Sean W. DeMuynck Wednesday by escorting the body of their fallen colleague.
DeMuynck, a volunteer firefighter who was on his last call at a home on Rosedale Road in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, ahead of moving home to his native Canada, died at the hospital after fighting a blaze in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, on July 4th.
"We lost a true hero last night," Lower Merrion Township Fire Chief Chas McGarvey said while fighting back tears during a Monday afternoon news conference.
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On Wednesday, a procession of fire trucks, police vehicles and ambulances slowly escorted DeMuynck's body from the Montgomery County Coroner's Office in Norristown to the funeral home in Havertown.
Colleagues lined up outside the coroner's office to pay respect as DeMuynck's casket draped in an American flag was loaded into a hearse.
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Fire trucks hung American flags over the roads as the processional passed underneath during the hourlong escort.
A fire truck ladder arch to honor DeMuynck is also set up in front of the Lower Merion Township Building Wednesday.
DeMuynck was found unresponsive on the third floor of the Wynnewood home Sunday night, the Lower Merion Township Fire Department said. DeMuynck was pulled from the structure after a mayday call went out and was rushed to nearby Lankenau Hospital where he was pronounced dead just after midnight, officials said.
He was just 35 years old.
The DeMuyncks came to the Philadelphia area on a work visa for the firefighter's wife to do research, officials said.
DeMuynck served as a volunteer firefighter in the community since August 2019. He and his wife, Melissa, were set to move back to the Toronto area in his native Canada on Monday so that they could be closer to family, officials said.
DeMuynck was an avid hockey enthusiast and found his way to volunteer firefighting as he was not permitted to work during his time in the United States, PWOHFC Fire Chief Ted Schmid said. He has some applications in with Canadian fire departments.
DeMuynck became a certified firefighter and was known to help out around the fire house and in the community in any way he could, Schmid said.
"His dedication was second to none," Schmid said. "We lost a good one."
His loss is being felt throughout the entire Lower Merion community and beyond.
"There is no difference between a career firefighter and volunteer firefighter -- we're all firefighters," McGarvey said.
The cause of the fire remained under investigation. ATF investigators joined local and county investigators on scene the day after the fire.
Back in Canada, DeMuynck once served a video coach for the junior hockey Windsor Spitfires.
"Sean was an awesome person to be around and always came to the rink well-prepared. Sean will be dearly missed by everyone," Spitfires general manager Bill Bowler said.
