Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has awarded...
Colonel Yevgeny Chernyshev was in fact off duty when the roof of the burning business center collapsed on him. The fire covered an area of 1,800 square meters and took five hours to extinguish. Six people were safely evacuated.
The people of Moscow will pay their last respects to the late firefighter on Wednesday.
Colleagues have described Chernyshev, born in 1963, as an honest and just manager who was always ready to help if someone was in need. He helped to extinguish more than 250 large fires.
Chernyshev was married and had one son.
Oleg Mitvol, the prefect of Moscow"s Northern District, has sent a letter to Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov proposing to rename either the 2nd Hutorskaya Street, the site of the fire, or Beskudnikovsky Avenue, where the late firefighter lived, in Chernyshev"s honor.
Medvedev ordered nationwide fire safety checks after a fire late last year killed over 150 people at a nightclub in the west Urals city of Perm.