Off-duty Lincolnshire firefighter dies in accident at marina

An off-duty Lincolnshire-Riverwoods firefighter died Thursday after a Bobcat flipped upside down and trapped him in the water at Ben Watts Marina in Fox Lake.

Mark Amore, 46, was a McHenry resident, Fox Lake Police Chief Jimmy Lee said.

Amore was a former lieutenant with the McHenry Township Fire Protection District, where his father, Wayne, was the district's first full-time chief.

In a Facebook post, McHenry Mayor Wayne Jett wrote Amore had a "heart of gold" and would light up a room.

"The amount of love he had for his family and friends was evident," Jett wrote. "You will be greatly missed by so many."

In its own Facebook post, the Lincolnshire-Riverwoods Firefighters IAFF Local 4224 wrote there were no words to express what the Amore family and their fire family are going through.

"The sudden (loss) of a man with so much life and energy is beyond heartbreaking," they wrote.

Amore, according to his Facebook page, also worked as a heavy equipment operator at Pirtano Construction Co.

Battalion Chief Larry Van Hoorelbeke of the Fox Lake Fire Protection District said his team was dispatched at 2:20 p.m. Thursday to Ben Watts Marina at 116 South Route 12 for a water rescue.

When crews arrived, they found a Bobcat upside down in the water, with Amore still inside the cage.

Lee said Amore was using the machine to grade the parking lot and spread gravel.

"He misjudged the edge of his sea wall and rolled into the water," Lee said.

Divers from the fire protection district pulled Amore out of the water. He was then taken to Northwestern McHenry Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.