New York City mayor Eric Adams offered words of tribute to an FDNY firefighter who died after collapsing in his Queens firehouse a day after battling a house fire.
On Thursday, Adams said Firefighter Jesse Gerhard, 33 is a brave firefighter who died serving the people.
“Jesse Gerhard dreamed of being a firefighter his entire life,” Adams said.
“And he lived that dream, bravely serving the residents of Queens by battling fires and rescuing New Yorkers from harm,” Adams added.
Acting Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh revealed Gerhard was on-duty at his firehouse, Ladder Co. 134 in Far Rockaway when he had a medical episode Wednesday.
Kavanagh said fellow firefighters rushed to his aid and then took him to St. John’s Episcopal Hospital, where he died.
Sources said a day before he died, Gerhard responded to a fire that broke out at a three-story home on Beach Channel Drive near Beach 25th St. about 4 p.m. Tuesday.
Gerhard and his team were e searching for any trapped residents.
After the fire was put under control around 5:49 p.m., Gerhard appeared fine.
Kavanagh called Gerhard “an extraordinary young man who always answered the call and never wavered in his sworn duty to save others.”
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