Area Firemen Support Tarrytown in Time of Need

As the Tarrytown Fire Department mourns the death of two men who were killed just a few feet away from the town's firehouse Monday evening, departments from across the county are lining up to offer support to their heart-broken comrades.

"It's terrible, it hits home, you know," Harrison Fire Chief Dino Del Signore said at the scene of a fire in Harrison Wednesday. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families and the fire department."

Tarrytown volunteer firefighters John Kelly and Anthony Ruggiero were both killed on Monday afternoon after succumbing to fumes and falling down an approximately 15-foot sewer manhole behind Consolidated Engine Fire House in Tarrytown.

Since then, fire departments from Harrison to northern Westchester have offered support by covering the station while the Tarrytown department recovers. Earlier in the week the Ossining, Valhalla and Chappaqua Fire Departments each sent engines to Tarrytown and took calls at the Tarrytown station.

Harrison will send an engine to Tarrytown on Friday while members of that department attend services for Kelly and Ruggiero.

"Everybody is chipping in, everybody from the county is chipping in, doing everything we can for them, said Del Signore. "That's what it's all about, it's a brotherhood. When they need us we are there no matter what."

A visitation for Kelly and a funeral service for Ruggiero will take place on Friday. Covering the station will allow firefighters from the Tarrytown department to attend without the concern of responding to a call.

Although Des Signore said he didn't know either of the fallen firefighters, he said any department in the area would return the favor if necessary.

"They need us—we are there for them, we need them—they are there for us," he said. "That's what it's all about, we are in this together."