FDNY DEATH PLUNGE
Loving dad in freak accident at Qns. blaze
A city firefighter fell five stories to his death Thursday from the bucket of a ladder truck in a freak accident as he attempted to get onto the roof of a Queens building after a fire had been extinguished, officials said.
William “Billy” Tolley, 42, a 14year FDNY veteran, was trying to help his colleagues atop 1615 Putnam Ave. in Ridgewood, where they had just put out a blaze at about 3 p.m.
“[Tolley] signaled something to the guy who was controlling the ladder, and the guy moved it. The bucket door was open and the ladder bounced and he fell out,” said a witness, Mayer Weber.
Tolley, the father of an 8-yearold girl, Bella, plunged to the sidewalk, and fellow firefighters rushed to his aid.
He was pronounced dead a short time later at Wyckoff Heights Medical Center.
FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro said Tolley was performing a “routine operation” when tragedy struck.
“He couldn’t hold on. He fell with all his equipment on his back,” said another witness, Malgorzara Alvarado, 25.
Along with his daughter, Tolley left behind a wife, Marie, 45 — and Mayor de Blasio said the family will not be forgotten.
“He did it willingly in service of others, and today he made the ultimate sacrifice,” de Blasio said. “Our hearts go out to his family. We will stand with you, not only today, but in the days ahead and for years and years to come.”
Tolley’s stepfather, Frank DeCil- lis, 70, said the family is devastated. “He was like a son to me. I am closer to him than I am my own sons,” DeCillis told The Post.
“He was loved by everybody, because he was such a wonderful man. I never saw him get mad or raise his voice. It was amazing. That was just the type of guy he was. He didn’t have a mean bone in his body.”
Neighbors lay flowers at the doorstep of the Tolley family’s home in Bethpage, LI.
Scores of New York’s Bravest stood shoulder to shoulder saluting the firefighter as his body was taken from Wyckoff Thursday evening.
Nigro and FDNY Chief of Department James Leonard led the procession from the hospital at about 8:45 p.m. while five members of Tolley’s ladder company carried his flag-draped body.
His wife, Marie, blew him a kiss as his body passed.