FDNY Line of Duty Death
January 23, 1907 - LODD
Fireman Thomas McNamera
Engine 266
FDNY. Queens, New York
Fireman McNamera died of smoke inhalation while operating at a four-alarm fire.
Fireman Thomas McNamara of Engine 166 (now Engine 266) was advancing the hose lines with the rest of the members of Engine 166 in a cottage that was charged with thick black smoke. A defective flue is supposed to have caused the fire. The firemen of Engine 166 were sent into the building, which was filled with thick clouds of black smoke. Although McNamara was the oldest member in the platoon, he insisted on going into the building first. The firemen stooped low to avoid the smoke as much as possible but McNamara held firm to the nozzle and forged ahead and farther into the building. Suddenly his comrades saw him stagger and fall. They knew at once that he was overcome with the thick smoke and, dropping the hose, picked him up and retreated to the street. He was placed in an ambulance and taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. He was one of the oldest firemen in the Department at the age of 63. He left a wife and two children. Fireman McNamara was a member of the Brooklyn Fire Department since 1877. He became a member of the FDNY after the two cities and their fire departments merged in 1898. (From "The Last Alarm" by Boucher, Urbanowicz & Melahn, 2007.)
RIP. Never forget.