An FDNY firefighter died Sunday afternoon after being caught in a partial ceiling collapse while battling a house fire in Brooklyn, officials said.
Mayor Eric Adams identified the firefighter as Timothy Klein, 31, who worked for six and a half years. Klein’s father was also a firefighter, the mayor said.
“We pray for him, his family and the city,” Adams told a news conference early Sunday night.
Klein, a member of the team that operated the nozzle for the Ladder Company 170 in Canary Islands, was one of four firefighters caught in the partial collapse of the ceiling at Avenue N. The commander of the incident, observing the sudden deterioration -which instructs these firefighters to come out.
All the others managed to escape by jumping out of windows or going down stairs, said FDNY Acting Chief of Staff John Hodgens.
“Our members worked hard and very, very hard under difficult conditions” to get to Klein, but they failed, Hodgens said, and “he succumbed to his injuries.”
Firefighters embrace as they salute the remains of Timothy Klein, the 1157th FDNY member to die in the line of duty. Credit: @FDNY Twitter
Kline of Queens was the 1157th NYPD firefighter to die in the line of duty, officials said. In 2019, he gave a eulogy to another FDNY firefighter from the same Brooklyn fire department who died in the line of duty, Stephen Pollard.
The FDNY said nine firefighters were injured in the blaze, including Klein.
FDNY Acting Commissioner Laura Cavanagh said: “I can’t describe FDNY’s broken heart today.”
In a news release later, Kavanagh said: “His family has a rich history of service in the FDNY and he bravely followed in their footsteps. The hearts of the whole department are with the Klein family and the members of Engine Company 257 and Ladder Company 170. ”
FDNY’s Facebook page showed a large crowd of firefighters standing in front of Brookdale Hospital to greet Klein as his body was transferred to another facility on Sunday night. They lined up from the ambulance to the hospital entrance to pay their respects, and some hugged shortly afterwards.
FDNY members congratulate firefighter Timothy Klein on his dignified transfer from Brookdale Hospital. Credit: @FDNY Twitter
The fire alarm for the home was received around 1:49 p.m., Kavanagh said. Later on Sunday night, Fabien Levy, Adams’ spokesman, said a second victim had been found dead. The FDNY said in an email that the identification of the person found was awaiting the forensic doctor’s findings.
Klein is from Bell Harbor, Queens, according to a man informed of the fire.
According to FDNY, Klein was hired by FDNY on December 28, 2015, and after graduating from the Fire Academy, he was hired by Ladder Company 170.
He is survived by his father, FDNY retired firefighter Patrick Klein, his mother Diane and his three sisters, FDNY reported. Klein’s mother was too desperate to comment.
In January 2019, Klein’s fire department in the Canarsie area of Brooklyn mourned the death of fellow FDNY firefighter Pollard, who fell to his death through a gap in the roadway in response to a Belt Parkway car crash in Brooklyn.
Klein, in a eulogy at Pollard’s service, had said of his friend and comrade, “When it came to being on fire, Steve showed no fear.” Klein had added, “We lost a real hero that night … Stevie, my heart is pounding to know that the days of working with you are over.”
Funeral arrangements are pending, FDNY reported.
In February 2022, 33-year-old Jesse Gerhard, a member of Ladder 134 in Far Rockaway, Queens, who also served as a volunteer firefighter in Islip for 13 years, died a day after helping fight a two-alarm fire in Far Rockaway. He had suffered an undisclosed “medical episode” and before Klein was the last FDNY firefighter to perform his duties.
With Darwin Jans
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