Driver hails Kelley as 'hero' who saved 'all of our lives' that day
QUINCY - The driver of the firetruck that crashed into a Mission Hill apartment building Friday spoke publicly yesterday about Lieutenant Kevin M. Kelley, who died in the crash, calling him a hero who saved the lives of the other firefighters in the vehicle.
With abrasions marring his forehead and right ear, Firefighter Robert B. O'Neill walked gingerly as he exited Kelley's wake and approached reporters to make a brief statement.
"I just wanted to say I'm very proud of Lieutenant Kevin Kelley. He was a hero, and I listened to him. And he saved all our lives," said O'Neill, one of three firefighters injured when Ladder 26 went out of control on a steep Mission Hill side street, sped across Huntington Avenue, and slammed into an apartment building.
"I'm devastated by the loss," O'Neill, 24, said. Moments earlier, he had met with the Kelley family. "My thoughts and prayers are with the entire Kelley family each and every day," he said.
O'Neill did not elaborate on how Kelley saved their lives, but David Blaides, another firefighter on the truck, told the Globe on Sunday that Kelley, who was sitting in the passenger seat, had done everything to save the others and warn pedestrians and motorists, blasting the horn and siren and telling his fellow firefighters: "Brace yourself. We can't stop this beast. Brace yourself."
A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. today for Kelley, a 52-year-old father of three and a second-generation Boston firefighter, at the Parish of Saint Ann in Quincy. Yesterday evening, a crowd that easily surpassed 1,000 paid their respects at a wake next door at Keohane Funeral Home.
Although visiting hours were not scheduled to begin until 4 p.m., by 3:15 the line to enter stretched alongside the Hancock Street funeral home and around the corner. Many wore dress uniforms, not just from Boston's Fire Department, but from public safety departments around the state. On-duty firefighters from Boston came a shift at a time, arriving in engines and ladder trucks to pay their respects.
Mayor Thomas M. Menino, preparing to offer State of the City remarks later last night, visited just before 3 p.m.. The archbishop of Boston, Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley, arrived an hour later.
Firefighters who served with Kelley recalled him as an uncynical veteran who knew how to add levity to situations and made sure younger firefighters learned from each call and did their jobs safely.
"We lost one of the good guys," said District Chief Charles Mitchell, who preceded Kelley as lieutenant on Ladder 26 and served with him for two decades. "That's why there's going to be people here all night, and this street will probably be jammed" for the funeral. 