A San Francisco Firefighter LODD was announced Wednesday. The San Francisco Fire Department reported that Jason Cortez suffered a fatal injury during a company-level training accident on Wednesday morning.

Cortez, 42, fell three stories during a training drill at the department’s Mission District training facility, suffering severe head injuries per local news reports. Immediate ALS measures were taken, and Cortez was transferred to San Francisco General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead approximately one hour later.

A 13-year veteran of the SFFD and a son of a retired San Francisco firefighter, Cortez reportedly started as an ambulance paramedic at Station 49, before moving to the SFFD Academy and graduating as a paramedic-firefighter.

Cortez was assigned to Station 3 in the city’s Tenderloin District — the busiest fire station in the nation, according to SFFD spokesperson Lt. Jonathan Baxter.

Baxter added that this was a trying time for the department, as Cortez was very well-liked at the department and served as an advocate for public safety.

Family members, firefighters, paramedics, police officers, California Highway Patrol officers, and other emergency responders gathered to salute Cortez as he was transferred from San Francisco General to the San Francisco Medical Examiner’s office.

The San Francisco Firefighters Union Local 798 Twitter account posted a tribute to Cortez with photos of the firefighter with one of his sons and his father.

San Francisco Firefighter LODD

The last LODD in San Francisco Fire Department prior to Jason Cortez was in 2011. The Guardians of the City website lists LODD deaths for San Francisco Firefighters. Cortez’s death was the second training accident LODD within a week.