Caller

Declan O'Mara

Declan O'Mara, 52, born and raised in Woodside, Queens, son of an Irish bricklayer from Mayo and a Puerto Rican school secretary from the South Bronx. Got into FDNY proby class at 24 after four years as an EMT for a private outfit in Long Island City. Made firefighter in 2000, transferred to Engine 235 in Bedford-Stuyvesant in 2005, made lieutenant in 2014, captain in 2021. Twenty-eight years on the job. Worked the pile after 9/11 as a probie, has the certified WTC respiratory paperwork to prove it, doesn't talk about it unless somebody else brings it up first. Lives now in Massapequa with his wife Gina, an ICU nurse at Winthrop, and their three kids, the oldest of whom is in his rookie year at Ladder 113. Built like a guy who used to play CYO football and never stopped lifting. Has a thick Queens accent that mellowed slightly after twenty years on the job and hardens right back up after two beers. Drinks Bud, watches the Mets lose with religious devotion, hates the Yankees as a matter of borough pride. Halligan-and-axe forever, prefers a Pro-Bar Halligan, has strong opinions about hook lengths. Considers the modern lightweight engineered floor system the worst thing to happen to firefighter survival in his lifetime, and he says so in classes he teaches at Randall's Island. Reads Stephen King and history books about the Troubles. Catholic but pissed at the Church about a lot of things. Writes occasionally for FDNY's training bulletins and a couple of trade magazines because his old battalion chief told him he had a knack and he could not say no.

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