By:Jenn Abelson
Sadness hung heavier than the oppressive humidity last Thursday as nearly 10,000 people gathered at St. Raymond's Roman Catholic Church in East Rockaway to mourn Brian Fahey, who died from injuries received while responding to a five-alarm Queens fire on Father's Day.
A navy blue sea of grieving firefighters and fire officials from as far as Toronto, Chicago and Orlando stretched along Atlantic Avenue. Buses that had transported firefighters from the earlier Long Beach funeral for fallen hero Harry Ford lined the side streets.
As a fire truck carrying Fahey's coffin inched down Atlantic Avenue, 60 bag pipers played "Minstrel Boy." Capt. Denis Murphy of Squad 288 sat in a wheelchair at the church's entrance, disabled from injuries he suffered from the explosion that rocked the Astoria hardware store.
"This is very difficult for me. Brian was a good friend of mine," Murphy said. "He would have been the last guy I would have thought this would happen to."
Minutes after Fahey's arrival at the June 17 fire, a blast shook the two-story building and sent tons of bricks and debris from a collapsed wall and ceiling crashing down onto the street, plunging Fahey through the floor and into the basement. The debris trapped the 14-year veteran, who shouted over the radio twice, "I'm under the stairs. Please come and get me."
Rescuers could not dig Fahey, 46, out in time. He is survived by his wife, Mary, and sons Brendan, 8, and Patrick and James, 3, who are twins.
Inside the neo-Gothic church, a block and a half away from Fahey's Garfield Avenue home, about 1,100 friends and family members remembered Fahey for his dedication to both his family and firefighting, and, of course, his famous bear hugs.
"I knew of no other man who had more jobs going at one time. He was constantly involved in some type of venture, always to make his family more comfortable," said his brother-in-law, Francis Lenahan, at the funeral.
In addition to working for New York City's Rescue Co. 4., Fahey taught at the Nassau County Fire Service Academy, volunteered at the Hempstead Fire Department and coached his older son's little league team. Several members of the St. Raymond's team attended the funeral in their yellow and black uniforms.
"He was a man of extreme integrity and devotion to friends and family alike," Lenahan said. "I only wish he was around to give me one more bear hug and one of his famous head butts."
Fahey's best friend since childhood, Jim Sandas, also recalled his buddy's bear hugs, as well as his Irish pride.
"His favorite holiday was not Christmas, nor was it his birthday. It was St. Patrick's Day. He would celebrate this day like there was no tomorrow," Sandas said in his eulogy. "In fact, he celebrated it for more than a week."
Sandas, who nicknamed Fahey "Chubby" after the Little Rascals' character during childhood, said he kept up the teasing as they grew older together. Sandas joked that Brian "was the only guy I knew who went from driving a pickup truck to a Harley Davidson motorcycle to a Corvette to a minivan with three kids in car seats."
"Brian was not only my friend, but a kindred brother," he said.
Commending Fahey for his commitment to firefighting, New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani asked the mourners to stand and pay tribute to the fallen hero: "He lived to serve ... as a father, as a firefighter and as a teacher."
Msgr. Thomas Candreva also noted Fahey's contribution as a teacher. Fahey was an instructor at the Nassau County Fire Service Academy for the past eight years, training every volunteer firefighter in the county about taming fires and surviving them.
"For the next 5, 10, 15, 20 years or more, one of you firefighters will emerge from a dangerous situation because of something Brian taught you," Candreva said. "The skills that could not save himself will save you."
Candreva asked the firefighters to not only thank Brian privately in such situations, but also to call Fahey's wife, Mary, and "let her know that Brian still lives with you."
The sky had broken and a steady downpour fell on mourners as they left the service. Fahey's wife and oldest son cried when someone placed a fire helmet on his head while he walked out of the Church.
Silence blanketed Atlantic Avenue again as firefighters saluted the coffin as it passed carrying the 776th New York City firefighter to die in the line of duty.
