Firefighter tried to save lives up to the end
As Ladder 26 careered out of control down Parker Hill Avenue, Lieutenant Kevin M. Kelley did everything possible in the moments before the crash that killed him to spare the lives of others, said David Blaides, one of three firefighters who survived Friday's accident in Mission Hill.
"He did everything he could. He was on the siren, he was on the horn," said Blaides in a brief interview last night on the porch of his Hyde Park home, where he was recuperating. "He said to us, 'Brace yourself. We can't stop this beast. Brace yourself.' "
Blaides said he could not talk about specifics of the accident, which remains under investigation, but said the final moments are "playing over in my head."
A Boston firefighter for 10 years, Blaides normally works out of a Hyde Park firehouse and was filling in Friday at the Huntington Avenue station. He had met Kelley, a three- decade veteran and the senior firefighter on the truck, just once before. Last night, he spoke with admiration for the second-generation Boston firefighter and 52-year-old father of three daughters.
"All his 30 years showed [in those final moments]. And my heart goes out to his family - his honor - I got off good," said Blaides, speaking softly.
"He did everything possible that he could to warn the public and us that this truck is coming down. He rode this thing to the death."
Earlier in the day, with Blaides recovering inside, his wife, Amanda, spread salt on their freshly shoveled walkway, a job he usually does.
She spoke about the accident, marveling at the fact that other people were not killed, given that the truck barreled across busy Huntington Avenue and smashed into an apartment tower.
The damage and loss of life inside and outside the truck were minimized by Kelley's final actions, Amanda Blaides said, relaying an account that she said she had heard in increments from her husband as he recovered.
"I think because of all he was trying to do, he may not have been able to brace himself," she said.
The driver, Blaides, and the other firefighter in the cab were injured. No pedestrians, motorists, or apartment residents were seriously hurt, though some children in a first-floor computer lab were treated for cuts from shattered glass.
Blaides injured the crown of his head in the accident - "he said it just felt like his skin came apart," Amanda Blaides said - but was comparatively unharmed.
"He looks beautiful. And I have to say beautiful, compared to what Kelley and the driver went through," she said.
Amanda Blaides and her husband have four children between the ages of 9 and 15, and the trauma and uncertainty after the accident were especially difficult for them, she said.
"We're really close, so it was hard for them. It took them up until [Saturday] night to really come out and sit with their dad, because they were so afraid," Amanda Blaides said.
Meanwhile, she was trying to shelter her husband from her own tears, she said. "I know he doesn't need to see us upset, but I'm so sorry for the Kelley family."
David Blaides, a Boston native in his mid-40s, worked with the homeless at Boston Harbor's Long Island Shelter before becoming a firefighter, his wife said.
As Blaides stood in the doorway on his snow-dusted porch last night, he said he did not remember much about the moment of impact or what followed.
Earlier, his wife said she had not pressed him for details, as he rested and recovered from the ordeal.
"We're getting snapshots of what happened," said Amanda Blaides, who said her husband has received visits from friends in the department and a succession of phone calls.
"To have three of them survive, Kelley did his job. That's what breaks my heart." 