Firehouse.Com News
A New York City firefghter suffered an apparant heart attack while searching a burning apartment
building in the Bronx Saturday night where two residents were also killed.
Courtesy FDNY
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Firefighter Donald L. Franklin, 42, of Ladder 44 in the Bronx, was pronounced dead after
he collapsed while searching the building for trapped residents at the two-alarm blaze.
Rescue workers on the scene tried to revive Franklin, a 16-year veteran, and transported
him to Lincoln Hospital Medical Center, where he later died, an official FDNY press release
said. He leaves behind a wife, Linda, and five children from a previous marriage: Shane, 16;
Tara, 14; Conner, 12; Devin, 10; and Kerry, 5; and one stepchild, Aaron Worts, 8.
Two residents of the five-story building, Nathaniel and Jean Barnes, were also killed in the blaze.
A third resident suffered critical burns.
The fire took about an hour to bring under control.
Photo by Ray Bell
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Franklin was appointed to the New York City Fire Department on September 12, 1984. After
graduating from the Department's academy, he was assigned to Engine 235 in Brooklyn.
During his career he also worked at Ladder 102 and has been assigned to Ladder 44 since
December 1992. Franklin was cited twice during his career for acts of bravery or heroism,
officials said.
The wake will take place this Monday from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. and Tuesday from
2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Applebee-McPhilips Funeral Home
at 130 Highland Ave. in Middletown, N.Y.
The funeral mass will take place Wednesday at 12 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church on Orchard Street in Middletown, N.Y.
Franklin is the 774th New York City Firefighter to die in the line of duty in the Department's
140-year history.
The line of duty death was the second faced in the nation's largest fire department this month.
On Jan. 4, Firefighter Gregg J. McLoughlin, age 39, of Engine Company 302 in Queens suffered cardiac
arrest in his firehouse.
The death marked the fifth for U.S. firefighters on duty in as many days.
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