Hundreds of New York's bravest stood shoulder to shoulder at Wyckoff Heights Medical Center as the flag draped the body of 42-year-old veteran William Tolley was carried out by members of his ladder company.
Tolley responded to a fire at Putnam Avenue in Ridgewood, Queens around 2:30 p.m. Thursday and worked to put it out. He was on the roof during a routine operation, clearing heat and smoke. As he attempted to enter Tower Ladder 135, it began sway.
An anguished FDNY Commissioner Dan Nigro announced the firefighter fell five stories from the roof and perished.
"The circumstances of his fall are under investigation," Nigro said.
Eyewitnesses say they saw the ladder jerking. "It shook so hard that it pushed him down," an onlooker said.
Members of his Engine Company 286 watched in horror as the 14-year veteran lost his foot and plunged to his death.
"There was nothing about the fire that really had anything to do with the accident that occurred," Nigro said. "It was really in the operation that he was performing on the roof, which is a routine operation for us, and, somehow, he fell from the roof."
The routine operation is the subject of an intense investigation by the fire safety unit.
8 comments:
My prayers and my sympathy go out to this Hero and his family.
For people on this blog I would say I guess you don't have to be an illegal or non-union to have a work site accident.
"For people on this blog I would say I guess you don't have to be an illegal or non-union to have a work site accident."
So why would you try and turn the tragic death of a firefighter into a political conversation troll...
The ladder did not literally kill the fire fighter. The title should be "Faulty ladder contributes to fall of fire fighter that results in death".
The NY Post has a story about how he was almost a rock star, he played for a small group and was going to move up but stayed with a job at FedEx instead, then the Fire Department.
Very sad.
Was the ladder faulty? The video (which shows only the shadow of the ladder jerking back and forth and something (someone) falling) doesn't make it clear. Did the ladder or mechanics malfunction or was it operator error? There was a suggestion that there was a miscommunication between him and the guy working the controls in early reports yesterday afternoon.
Undoubtedly there will be an investigation to follow.
A few weeks ago there was a guy with a spanish surname that died at a construction site. Many of the posts mentioned illegals and non-union job sites. No article written on the tragic accident gave his immigration status or his job site status.
Now we have an American union member dying on the job. For the record the other death could very well likely have been as well. Why is there this difference?
Dying on the job is dying on the job. It's a fact of life.
My condolences to his family and his friends.
R.I.P.
Bill was a phenomenal musician. Even if this music is not your taste or is way to loud, fast and vicious, this being death metal, still watch this guy play. To classic rock fans, think Neil Peart of Rush. I'm not kidding.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NdRRY_kmC4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxY7TbkdqmY
His drumming was revered by lots of fans according to his band, Internal Bleeding, videos on the youtube. I wish I caught this band earlier.
What a terrible tragedy. I never heard of a fire engine ladder breaking down like this. Especially during a routine procedure as was reported. There is something off about this.
Rip Hero! Gone but not forgotten.
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