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Firefighter dies in icy Lake Tahoe while saving son in Bravest last act
BY KERRY BURKE, MICHAEL DALY and ETHAN ROUEN
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Friday, July 25th 2008, 12:18 AM
Bravest Martin Simmons, 41, died while on vacation in Lake Tahoe after he dove into frigid water to rescue his son, 10
Daily News
One of New York's Bravest gave his life to save his young son from drowning in the frigid waters of Lake Tahoe, officials said Thursday.
Martin Simmons, 41, described by a colleague as a "premier firefighter," dove from a boat into the choppy 50-degree lake Monday evening and rescued his 10-year-old boy, Kevin, who had developed a leg cramp while swimming, Nevada officials said.
"We do that for strangers. Of course he'd do that for his own son," said Joe Honan, Simmons' shaken partner at Ladder 111 in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.
Simmons, a 17-year FDNY veteran from Nesconset, L.I., reached his struggling son, but had a hard time staying above water.
As Simmons' frantic wife, Judi, watched helplessly from the boat, his brother-in-law jumped into the lake to help, officials said.
Two lifeguards at nearby Sand Harbor State Park and two recreational swimmers, brothers ages 18 and 13, on a personal watercraft also rushed to the family's aid. Lifeguard Jex Lawrence reached the unconscious boy and his barely conscious uncle first.
"By the time I got there, he [the uncle] looked about done," Lawrence told the North Lake Tahoe Bonanza newspaper. "I think he had about 30 seconds left before he went under, too. He had a bloody nose and was just holding the kid."
They then found Simmons, who was just below the surface in 9-foot-deep water. He did not have a pulse, and 30 minutes of cardiopulmonary resuscitation failed to revive him.
Kevin was flown to a hospital, where he was treated and released. His uncle was treated at the scene.
Simmons' family, who had been vacationing at the 191-square-mile lake, accompanied his body from Nevada to Kennedy Airport last night, where his flag-draped coffin was met by an FDNY honor guard and several Port Authority Police officers who saluted as it passed.
Fellow firefighters said Simmons, who started his career as an NYPD officer, spent most of his downtime reading sports manuals so he could better coach his three sons.
"Marty is what you'd call a premier firefighter," Honan said. "To the younger guys, he was a father. When a young firefighter walked in here, he took him under his wing and taught him all about the rig, all about being a firefighter."
The Washoe County coroner ruled Simmons' death an accidental drowning. Officials at the Nevada Division of Wildlife said drownings in the icy waters of Lake Tahoe are not uncommon.
"The lake is made of snow," said division spokesman Edwin Lyngar. "It's very cold. People who jump in can succumb to the water very quickly."
erouen@nydailynews.com
BY KERRY BURKE, MICHAEL DALY and ETHAN ROUEN
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Friday, July 25th 2008, 12:18 AM
Bravest Martin Simmons, 41, died while on vacation in Lake Tahoe after he dove into frigid water to rescue his son, 10
Daily News
One of New York's Bravest gave his life to save his young son from drowning in the frigid waters of Lake Tahoe, officials said Thursday.
Martin Simmons, 41, described by a colleague as a "premier firefighter," dove from a boat into the choppy 50-degree lake Monday evening and rescued his 10-year-old boy, Kevin, who had developed a leg cramp while swimming, Nevada officials said.
"We do that for strangers. Of course he'd do that for his own son," said Joe Honan, Simmons' shaken partner at Ladder 111 in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.
Simmons, a 17-year FDNY veteran from Nesconset, L.I., reached his struggling son, but had a hard time staying above water.
As Simmons' frantic wife, Judi, watched helplessly from the boat, his brother-in-law jumped into the lake to help, officials said.
Two lifeguards at nearby Sand Harbor State Park and two recreational swimmers, brothers ages 18 and 13, on a personal watercraft also rushed to the family's aid. Lifeguard Jex Lawrence reached the unconscious boy and his barely conscious uncle first.
"By the time I got there, he [the uncle] looked about done," Lawrence told the North Lake Tahoe Bonanza newspaper. "I think he had about 30 seconds left before he went under, too. He had a bloody nose and was just holding the kid."
They then found Simmons, who was just below the surface in 9-foot-deep water. He did not have a pulse, and 30 minutes of cardiopulmonary resuscitation failed to revive him.
Kevin was flown to a hospital, where he was treated and released. His uncle was treated at the scene.
Simmons' family, who had been vacationing at the 191-square-mile lake, accompanied his body from Nevada to Kennedy Airport last night, where his flag-draped coffin was met by an FDNY honor guard and several Port Authority Police officers who saluted as it passed.
Fellow firefighters said Simmons, who started his career as an NYPD officer, spent most of his downtime reading sports manuals so he could better coach his three sons.
"Marty is what you'd call a premier firefighter," Honan said. "To the younger guys, he was a father. When a young firefighter walked in here, he took him under his wing and taught him all about the rig, all about being a firefighter."
The Washoe County coroner ruled Simmons' death an accidental drowning. Officials at the Nevada Division of Wildlife said drownings in the icy waters of Lake Tahoe are not uncommon.
"The lake is made of snow," said division spokesman Edwin Lyngar. "It's very cold. People who jump in can succumb to the water very quickly."
erouen@nydailynews.com