Honoring Boston firefighters killed in blaze a decade ago
to the fullest” and “Michael Kennedy was the life of the party.”
the commissioner added, “i know if we open the floor to everybody here i’m sure we’d be here until the sun comes up with people telling heartfelt stories about these two amazing men.”
Both men were longtime players on the department’s softball team; Kennedy during one game became angry when he hit a home run.
“Michael had just lit up a home run and he was pretty mad. but his anger was not because of the home run,” burke said. “it was because that home run went right over the fence and smashed the windshield of his own car” as those attending broke out into laughter.
“We think it’s the one and only time that’s ever happened in the entire history of the bfD softball game,” burke said.
Former boston fire commissioner Joseph finn, who helped lead the response on March 26, 2014, said he has never forgotten the events of the day. ”Nothing will ever erase the pain of that day,” finn said.
Kennedy grabbed a 1.5-inch hose and entered through a rear door to check out smoky conditions in a basement apartment followed moments later by Walsh, according to the department’s official investigation and Globe reports.
Walsh, a 43-year-old married father of three young children, and Kennedy, the 33-year-old Marine Corps veteran, had made their way downstairs to the basement when a front window broke, intensifying the blaze, authorities said. Just minutes after entering the building, they were trapped in the cellar, prompting a frantic mayday call.
With both men trapped in the basement, Walsh repeatedly asked for his fire hose to be charged, but it was later learned the temperatures were so high the hose had melted and no water reached the men, officials said.
Kennedy was pulled from the heavily damaged building by other firefighters, but the dangerous conditions led the on-site commander to order all firefighters out of the building. Walsh’s body was recovered after the fire had been brought under control, according to the report.
Finn spoke of how the efforts of Kennedy and Walsh to immediately attack the fire in the basement helped save the lives of tenants. Months after the fire, finn said, he received a letter from the father of a young woman, a nurse at Massachusetts General Hospital, who lived on the top floor.
”He apologized for taking so long to write the letter because every time he sat down to compose it, he got too emotional to put into words the gratitude and thankfulness that his daughter was rescued that day,” finn said.
Mayor Michelle Wu addressed the firehouse full of people tuesday thanking “all those who put their lives on the line every single day and all those who love them, and sacrifice right alongside them.” She recalled attending the service a decade ago as a city councilor who was also pregnant with her first son.
“I remember sitting in the church and just thinking about what it meant to bring a new life into the world,” Wu said. “the ultimate sacrifice of a mother, of families, who raised these little babies to turn into heroes who gave their lives to protect others.”
Wu looked across the firehouse to Kathy Crosby-bell, Kennedy’s mother, and called her the “ultimate mom” for turning her grief into the last Call foundation, which has since provided fire hoses that won’t melt in extreme temperatures.
”We will never repay the sacrifice that these two families have given to the city of boston,” Wu said.
Crosby-bell said to the large crowd that the Massachusetts legislature has still not passed the Walsh-Kennedy bill, which regulates the use of “hot works,” or anything that creates a spark, she said. investigators concluded the fire was started by a contractor doing welding without a permit and during high wind conditions. Sparks from the welding ignited a wood shed attached to the brownstone.
“That is a slap in the face to every firefighter,” she said. “i don’t understand it. the fact that your lives don’t mean enough for us to correct that mistake across the Commonwealth is offensive to me.
“Every firefighter is a hero. ... they don’t have to die to be a hero, and they shouldn’t have to die,” she said, to an eruption of applause.
Finn addressed both Kristen Walsh, Walsh’s wife, and Crosbybell, saying they’ve “turned this tragedy into triumph,” with the last Call foundation and the Ed Walsh foundation.
”Stay strong, keep doing what you’re doing, keep Eddie and Mike alive in your hearts,” finn said.
Kristen Walsh stood before the crowd, with a smile on her face, and said Michael wanted to be at the boylston Street firehouse.
“Please remember Michael, and all the others,” she said. “this firehouse has a rich history and he was honored and privileged to work here.”
As Walsh walked back into the audience, her daughter reached out her hand for Walsh to grasp.