EFFINGHAM, Ill. (WAND) - Law enforcement agencies from across the state came together Wednesday to escort the body of Mehdi Mourad from Springfield to Johnson Funeral Home in Effingham.
 
Waiting in Effingham was the Effingham Fire Department, which had a large American flag raised from a ladder truck.
 
Fire Chief Bob Tutko said this is the proper way to honor a firefighter who gave the ultimate sacrifice serving their community.
 
"It's very important to let the family know, let the firefighters know, that once you enter the fire service community, you're in a family for life and this family takes care of each other from basically cradle to grave," Tutko said. 
 
Mourad was with the Wabash Fire Protection District for only five days when he responded to the call where he had his fatal accident.
 
Gary Kepley, the public relations and safety officer with Wabash Fire, said since he passed on Sunday, it's been a whirlwind for the department.
 
"With an in-line duty death there's a lot of things that happen, a lot of agencies, federal, state that get involved, and of course you just got your surrounding fire departments that want to show the support," Kepley said. "So we've been pretty busy just trying to keep track of everything."
 
Kepley said many have been reaching out to the department from across the state and country.
 
"It's not just here, I mean, it's all over. We've gotten calls from all over the United States. So it's been quite an ordeal, quite an outreach of people that have found out about what's going on and got with us."
 
Also in attendance at the processional was Mourad's brother, Amine Jarrad. He said he still can't believe his brother is gone.
 
"Shocking. I'm still...when the doctor told me he didn't make it, I just kind of just stared at him like this is not true. I'm just dreaming about this," Jarrad said. "This can't be, because I literally just talked to him an hour ago."
 
However, he said this is the perfect way to honor Mehdi and that he would have loved it.
 
"It's been amazing. I'm overwhelmed with it and really, really appreciative," Jarrad said. "He would have loved it. He really loved law enforcement."
 
Mourad's visitation will be at 10 a.m. on Saturday morning, with the funeral following at noon at New Hope Church in Effingham. He will then be taken to Neoga Cemetery to be buried.
 
A GoFundMe has been set up to help the family with funeral expenses. A link to that can be found here.