Acorn-Online 4/23/09
Stratford firefighters will share a bond with members of the Ramsey, N.J., Fire Department who will travel the farthest to march in Saturday’s parade.
They gather in memory of their fallen brother, Mike Reilly.
Reilly was killed in the line of duty on Aug. 27, 2006, battling a three-alarm fire while working as a nozzle man on Fire Department of New York’s Engine 75 .
Also lost in that fire was FDNY Lt. Howard Carplunk.
Michael Curran Reilly was born April 3, 1981, in White Plains, N.Y.
According to the Web site www.michaelcreillyscholarship.org, his parents, Michael F. and Monica Reilly, moved to Ramsey when he was 4.
“He wasn’t too thrilled initially — Ramsey didn’t have enough action,” according to the Web site. “As a child, Michael was extremely interested in firemen, fire trucks, firehouses. He played ‘fireman’ frequently.”
At the age of 16, while still in high school, Reilly joined the Ramsey Rescue Squad and shortly thereafter the Ramsey Fire Department as a volunteer. He graduated from Ramsey High School in June 1999 with a full academic scholarship to William Paterson University.
He attended college, then joined the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve as a specialist in aircraft firefighting and rescue.
In 2003 Reilly graduated from the Connecticut Fire Academy and joined the Stratford Fire Department. He was stationed at Company 1, Headquarters, 2750 Main St., until he was called to active duty in Iraq, with the Marines.
After seven months there he returned to the Stratford Fire Department and International Association of Fire Fighters Local 998 in February 2005,moving to Engine 3 at the Lordship station.
While overseas, however, he had received the word he had been waiting for — acceptance by the Fire Department of the City of New York. Those who knew him said he was deeply affected by the events of Sept. 11, 2001.
He accepted the position and started in the FDNY Academy April 11, 2006. He served as squad leader and was among the top 10 graduates in his class when he finished in July, 2006, and got the action he wanted — assignment to Engine 75 in the Bronx, known as “The Animal House.”
Some 50 days later, on the job he always wanted, Reilly was killed when a floor of a burning 99-cent store collapsed beneath him.
A veteran of four firefighting units, Reilly was 25 years old.
|
|
|
FDNY Major l FDNY Rescues l FDNY Brotherhood l FDNY Events l FDNY Profiles l FDNY Events |
