FDNY Fire Service Line of Duty Death
March 18, 1939 - LODD
Fireman Charles R. Will, 47
Ladder 163
FDNY. Woodside - Queens, New York
Fireman Will died from the injuries he sustained after he fell from a ladder while trying to rescue a man from the viaduct of the Long Island Railroad at 23rd Avenue and 35th Street.
Fireman Charles R. Will of Ladder 163 was killed when he fell from a ladder. A disoriented man was on the railroad embankment at 31st Street. The man was going to jump if a ladder was not brought to the overpass. The aerial ladder from Ladder 163 was raised at an awkward angle due to the railroad overpass passing over an “EL” track. The man was caught and brought down the ladder. Fireman Will fell from the ladder and was instantly killed. He left a wife and a married daughter and was a member of the Department since October 16, 1925. (From "The Last Alarm" by Boucher, Urbanowicz & Melahn, 2007)
RIP. Never forget.
