Firefighter Kevin C. Kane Medal

Firefighter Terence F. Brody Ladder Company 110

May 12, 2005, 0650 hours, Box 75-0550, 417 Baltic Street, Brooklyn

Appointed to the FDNY on July 15, 2001. Previously assigned to Engine 9. Grandfather, Lieutenant Jack Watt, is retired from Engine 228; uncles, FF John Watt, is retired from Ladder 110, Captain Ed Watt, is assigned to Ladder 81 and FF Mike Watt, is assigned to Engine 157; and cousin, FF Mike Brody, is assigned to Ladder 86. Holds a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice from Kean University. Resides in Bellerose, Queens, with his wife, Christine.

Firefighting is one of the most dangerous occupations in the world. Firefighters must enter burning structures. Once inside, they must search for victims, the source of the fire and then extinguish the fire. During this process, Firefighters are exposed to extreme heat, toxic smoke and debilitating fatigue. Ultimately, firefighting is a physically demanding job. Firefighters carry 80 to 100 pounds of equipment, such as rolled hose, sledge hammers, axes, hydraulic rams and pressurized extinguishers, into and around the fire scene to rescue people and put out the fire.

On the morning of May 12, 2005, the members of Ladder Company 110 responded to fire alarm Box number 550 from their quarters on Tillary Street. While en route to the Baltic Street address, the Department radio crackled with reports of people trapped.

Arriving at the 14-story, high-rise multiple dwelling, FFs Kevin Harvey with the extinguisher and Terence Brody with forcible entry tools, supervised by Captain Robert Pav, would have to extend their physical abilities almost to the breaking point as they were confronted with a fire on the 12th floor and a confirmed life hazard. They took the elevator to the 10th floor. After previous difficulty, the elevator opened. With time running out for a victim threatening to jump from a smoke-filled, 12th-floor window, the arriving rescuers began their painstaking run up to the fire floor, weighted down by a full complement of tools.

Arriving at apartment 12D, FF Brody’s job was just beginning. It was time to force entry and make a search, while simultaneously pushing past the physical fatigue. As FF Brody was forcing entry into the fire apartment and Engine Company 226 was preparing an attack on the fire with a 21/2-inch line stretched off the building’s standpipe system, the members of Squad 1 were initiating a lifesaving rope rescue from the apartment directly over the fire apartment.

With no time to spare and a hose-line being stretched from the stairway, Captain Pav entered the fire apartment with his inside team, in spite of the high heat and zero visibility. Immediately on entering the apartment, the Captain and FF Brody were met with a free-burning living-room fire that was rolling over into the apartment hallway.

It became quite evident that the only way to get to the rear bedroom where the trapped occupant was located would be to crawl under and past the fire. After passing the fire now being held back by FF Harvey with a fire extinguisher, FF Brody managed to reach a rear bedroom and find Jacqueline Bradford, age 35, crouched behind the bed next to an open window. She was gasping for air. The Firefighter told her to hold her breath as he shielded her with his body. They escaped past the living-room fire and into an adjacent apartment for safe refuge.

FF Terence F. Brody of Ladder Company 110 conducted his search and rescue without the benefit of a charged hose-line. He passed a heavy body of fire to accomplish his lifesaving task. The young woman who had been trapped by fire is alive and well today because of the individual bravery of FF Brody. For these reasons, he is honored with the Firefighter Kevin C. Kane Medal.—PWB

Return to Index of Medal Recipients