FDNY

FDNY Firefighter Dies Suddenly, a Day After Responding to 2-Alarm Blaze

Jesse Gerhard became the 1,156th member of the FDNY to die in the line of duty

NBC Universal, Inc.

A young FDNY firefighter has died suddenly after battling a blaze earlier this week.

Firefighter Jesse B. Gerhard, 33, died Wednesday after responding to a two-alarm fire in Queens on Tuesday, acting FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh said.

He suddenly collapsed Wednesday night at his firehouse, Kavanagh told a news conference Thursday morning, and died at a local hospital. Despite earlier reports he'd suffered a heart attack, Kavanagh said a cause of death is not yet clear.

Gerhard, a former EMT, was assigned to Ladder 134 in Far Rockaway. He was first appointed a probationary firefighter in Dec. 2017.

He becomes the 1,156th FDNY member to die in the line of duty.

Early Thursday morning, cameras captured a substantial procession of police and fire personnel traveling through Manhattan to the city's morgue.

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