Chicago fire captain who died in line of duty fondly remembered by Johnsburg neighbors

The house between them on the Fox River was not in great shape until a new owner started working on it himself, neighbors Brian Pokrzywa and Mike Morreale said.

That neighbor was David Meyer, the Chicago Fire Department captain who was killed following an early-morning fire Wednesday in the Austin neighborhood when a garage collapsed. He and his family have had the summer house in Johnsburg for almost 10 years, his neighbors there said.

“There were here on the weekends. They came about every weekend and during the week here and there,” Pokrzywa said. “They are a great family.”

Meyer, 54, joined the Chicago department in October 1996, according to information provided during a department news conference Wednesday. The fire was out, and crews were starting salvage and overhaul when the garage collapsed on Meyer. He was taken to Stroger Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries, according to Chicago fire officials.

The Meyer family bought the house between Morreale and Pokrzywa “for a song” because of the shape it was in, Morreale said.

Meyer “took a lot of time and effort” bringing the house back, Morreale said. “He was always out doing something.”

Meyer was also always willing to help his neighbors out.

“He was one of those guys who was hard to find,” Morreale said.

When a recent storm took down a large branch on one of his trees, Morreale asked Meyer if he could come over with his chainsaw “and whack this into pieces for me.”

“I went to the store and when I came back it was done” and the wood piled for him, Morreale said.

During a family party one recent summer weekend, an outside stair tread broke at the Pokrzywa house. Meyer, who was up on a ladder in his own home came over “and had it fixed in 10 minutes, during the party,” Pokrzywa said.

Another time, he asked for help getting a ladder up to a high light bulb. “I am not good on ladders. I asked, ‘Can I borrow a ladder?’” but Meyer came over, threw the ladder up and changed the lightbulb, Pokrzywa said.

“Every time Dave was here he was working on something,” Pokrzywa added. “He was such a nice guy who would do anything for anybody.”

There are not a lot of summer homes left on the Fox River in Johnsburg, with many having become permanent homes over the years, Morreale said. It was his understanding the family hoped to move there permanently after David Meyer retired.

“I am going to miss him,” Morreale said.