LCFD remembers Kevin M. O’Rourke

The Lawrence Cedarhurst Fire Department dedicated its recent building extension (2012) and also had a monument and street sign dedication on May 6, in honor of firefighter Kevin M. O’Rourke, who lost his life on 9/11, while operating with FDNY Rescue Company 2.

Rescued by a firefighter as a child inspired O’Rourke to join the volunteer Lawrence-Cedarhurst Fire Department. He was also a dispatcher, elected to lieutenant, then captain. As part of Hose Company 1, he also served as a lieutenant and then a captain of that unit.

In 1984, O’Rourke left the volunteer department to become a Fire Department of the City of New York firefighter. Three years later, he won an award for a rescue. A decade later he was transferred into the Elite Rescue Company 2 in Brooklyn. He also made his mark fixing and filling the tires of the neighborhood children’s bicycles; the firehouse in the Crown Heights section was known as Kevin’s Bike Shop. O’Rourke also taught the children fire safety techniques such as Stop Drop and Roll.