5-5-5-5

A signal 5-5-5-5 is transmitted when there is a fire department LODD, Line of Duty Death. Today, the FDNY (Fire Department of New York) has had to transmit 3 such signals. It is indeed, a bad day in the brotherhood of firefighters.

I was going to make a post about what has been going on these past few days, but my thoughts are a bit preoccupied with these events.

There was a 3 alarm fire in the Bronx earlier this morning. 6 members were operating on the 4th floor when the fire jumped from the 3rd floor up to the 4th, causing the 6 firefighters to bail out the window. 2 of them have died from their injuries at the hospital a couple hours apart, 3 remain critical, and one is in serious condition.

Lt. Curtis Meyran, 46, of Battalion 26, and Firefighter John Bellew, 37, of Ladder 27, were killed. Meyran, a father of three and 15-year veteran of the fire department who was decorated twice for bravery, died shortly after 9 a.m. Bellew, who had been a firefighter for a decade and was a father of four, died at about 1 p.m.

The 3rd firefighter that was killed, was operating at a seperate 2 alarm fire in Brooklyn. He became trapped in the basement and was removed in respiratory arrest. At the time of this post, his information has not been released.

It matters not where the firefighter is from, what kind of person they are, or how they died. It does not matter if they were a career firefighter or a volunteer. Whenever a firefighter dies, all of us in the fire service feel the loss. We all mourn for our fallen brothers, and we weep for the families they leave behind. We silently remind ourselves that it could happen to us, at anytime. We don't talk about it out loud, it's something we don't want to think about or remind ourselves about. Every day that I go to work, I remind myself to kiss my Squirt, tell her I love her, and hope I come back again unharmed.