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Flag at half-staff outside firehouse in memory of fallen FDNY firefighter

New York City Mayor Eric Adams says FDNY firefighter Jesse Gerhard, 33, died after battling a fire in Far Rockaway in Queens.

News 12 Staff

Feb 17, 2022, 1:14 PM

Updated 1,020 days ago

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The city is honoring the life of one of New York's finest Thursday after he died battling a fire in Far Rockaway, Queens.
The flag was at half-staff outside the firehouse where FDNY firefighter Jesse Gerhard, 33, worked. He is remembered as the kind of person you would want in the FDNY, a job that was his dream.
Officials say the fire happened around 4 p.m. Tuesday, but it wasn’t until two days later that Gerhard collapsed in the firehouse. The home on the corner of Beach Channel Drive and Hartman Lane sustained extensive damage in the fire.
FDNY Fire Marshals say the 2-alarm fire was ruled accidental and was caused by electrical wiring in the basement. They say the fire then spread to combustible materials stored in the basement.
Firefighters tried to give him CPR. He was transported to St. Johns Episcopal Hospital and died there.
Gerhard was a firefighter at Ladder 134, and was an EMT for three years before becoming an FDNY firefighter, officials say. He had been in the force for seven years.
The Islip Fire Department on Long Island tells News 12 that Gerhard was also a volunteer in their department.