FDNY Fire Service Line of Duty Death
April 7, 1931 - LODD
Fireman John Degnan, 36
Engine 35
FDNY. East Harlem, New York
Engine 35 collision with truck - hit 3rd Avenue pillar at 123rd Street.
Fireman John Degnan of Engine 35 was killed and four other firemen were injured while responding to a fire. The accident resulted from efforts to avert a collision with a delivery truck on East 123rd Street. The driver of the truck turned his wheels away from the fire truck and fainted. Engine 35 slammed into the truck, a limousine and an elevated pillar throwing everybody to the street. Captain Martin Tarpey, Firemen John Degnan and John Coddington were on the side that hit the elevated pillar. Captain Tarpey lost his leg, Coddington received a fractured skull and a brain concussion but both recovered from their injuries. Fireman Degnan became a fireman in 1915 and was single. (From "The Last Alarm" by Boucher, Urbanowicz & Melahn, 2007)
RIP. Never forget.
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