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In a solemn, time-honored ceremony attended by hundreds of his fellow Bravest, FDNY firefighters saluted their fallen friend, Firefighter Patrick Brady, Sunday by placing purple and black bunting on the exterior of Brady’s firehouse, Ladder 120/Engine 231, in Brooklyn.
Brady, 42, went into cardiac arrest Saturday evening while battling a fire on the roof of a six-story apartment building on Kings Highway in Brownsville, the FDNY and Mayor Eric Adams said.
The 11-year firefighter was treated on-scene by firefighters and members of FDNY EMS before being taken to Brookdale University Hospital Medical Center, where he died. Brady had been assigned to Ladder 120 since 2022 following a nearly 8-year tenure with Engine 227 in Crown Heights.
"There is no sacrifice that is more selfless than the actions that took place this evening,” Mayor Eric Adams said at a press conference following Brady’s death Saturday. "There's a reason we call them New York’s Bravest. Patrick Brady personified that.”
Brady lived in Rockaway, Queens, and was part of a “firefighter family,” Adams said. Two of his brothers, a cousin and an uncle are all active duty or retired firefighters. “They have been dedicated to protecting the lives of New Yorkers and we will all cherish Patrick’s memory,” Adams said.
Brady’s body was transferred out of the hospital in a casket draped with an American flag under the watch of hundreds of firefighters. Brady’s wife and family attended the bunting ceremony Sunday morning, which honored a man FDNY Chief of Department John Esposito called an “outstanding firefighter.”
“His loss is a tremendous loss obviously for his fire company, the Fire Department and the city as a whole,” Esposito said Saturday. “Please pray for Patrick Brady and his family.”
Brady’s firefighter colleague Captain Scott Coyne of Engine 231 called Brady an “informal leader” who “brightened up the room.”
“He was one of the greatest,” Coyne said following Sunday’s somber ceremony. “He did what you needed done before you even asked. He took care of those who were now younger than him and newer in the rank and file and he was good when we went out the door to a lot of these buildings that are right around us here.”
Lieutenant James Walker, also of Engine 231, said that Brady “was the type of guy that you really hoped was working when you were coming into work.”
In a statement, Andrew Ansbro, the president of the Uniformed Firefighters Association, said that the entire FDNY family was mourning Brady’s “heartbreaking” loss.
“Firefighter Brady made the ultimate sacrifice while protecting the people of this city, and his passing is a devastating reminder of the dangers our members face every single day in service to others,” he said. “Patrick came from a proud FDNY family — a legacy of courage, dedication, and love for New York. His loss will be felt not only in the firehouse but across the entire city that he served with such honor.”
Brady is the 1,163rd member of the FDNY to die in the line of duty.
His was the second FDNY line-of-duty death in recent weeks. Longtime FDNY paramedic Salih Abdur Rahman died after a shift at the FDNY’s training academy on Randall’s Island on Oct. 29.
“The entire FDNY is heartbroken over the loss of Firefighter Patrick Brady. Firefighter Brady was a dedicated public servant, and firefighting was in his blood,” FDNY Commissioner Robert Tucker said in a statement. “We are thinking of his family, friends, and fellow members as we join them in mourning this immense loss.”
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