A procession of fire trucks and first responder vehicles escorted the remains of Indianapolis Fire Department Engineer Matthew Bennett to Crown Hill Cemetery, where he will be laid to rest on Monday, November 23.
Bennett was on the job Friday morning when he began complaining of chest pains. He was taken to the hospital, where he later died.
“That kind of spread around quickly that Matt had suffered a medical emergency, but we didn’t know the extent of that. You hoped that everything would be okay,” says Bargersville Deputy Fire Chief Matt Pruitt, who used to work with Bennett at the Wayne Township Fire Department. “I have known Matt for 25 years.
“I remember days at the St. Patrick’s Day gatherings down at the Union Hall. You could go across that crowd, being packed, and you could pick Matt out. He was the center of attention. You couldn’t find a hole in that guy when it came to pumping water at an incident, to getting the ladder in place. That’s what he loved doing.”