VIDEO: Over the weekend, Jim Blake was on the line helping fight a massive fire at the former U.S. Steel building. Wednesday morning, the Joliet fire battalion chief got a big surprise when he walked into the meeting room: a retirement party.
"Caught off guard, a little embarrassed, but happy. Very happy," he said.
The party was the brainchild of 21-year-old Acey Longley. He's the son of Ty Longley, the former guitarist for the band Great White. Longley was born a few months after the fire during a Rhode Island concert that killed his father in 2003.
Ty Longley was credited with saving others after the flames erupted from pyrotechnics on stage before he died.
"My own father gave his life to save others' lives," Acey Longley said.
The family lived in Plainfield, and Longley started visiting the Joliet fire station as a young boy.