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DAN KRAUT
The Record
Passaic Fire Dept Photo
Al Tirado
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He was a full-time firefighter, a part-time postman, and a member of the U.S. Marine Reserve.
But most of all, Alberto Tirado was a dad. During slow mornings at the firehouse, he was the guy asking that the TV be tuned to cartoons so he could discuss them later with his little boy. And he looked forward to a day when maybe he wouldn't need permission to change the station.
"One day, I'll be chief," his older brother, Angel, recalled his saying.
At Alberto Tirado's home in Clifton on Thursday, mourners told story after story about a man who never stopped giving of himself, right to the end.
The 40-year-old firefighter -- who recently passed a lieutenant's exam -- died Wednesday night, trapped in a tenement while searching for children who he didn't know had made it out safely.
"His free time was to help other people," Angel recalled. "He made time for everybody, no matter how busy he was."
His widow, Evelyn, recalled a loving father.
AP World Wide Photo
Two firefighers hug outside an apartment building in Passaic, N.J., Thursday, May 10, 2001, where Passaic firefighter Alberto Tirado died while trying to save two children he believed were trapped in a burning building, officials said. Tirado, 40, died on the second floor of the three-story apartment when the roof of the apartment building collapsed. The children were already out of the building before Tirado entered, according to Fire Director Anthony Mingo.
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"He always took care of my kids," she said, remembering a dedicated father very involved in his children's lives, going to see his son play football or his daughter play basketball.
Yanira and Angelina are both high school seniors, Alberto is a freshman, and Alex is 6 years old.
It was for Alex, a colleague said, that Tirado watched the cartoons on slow mornings.
Despite passing the lieutenant's exam, Tirado continued to work part time delivering mail and served as a military reservist.
Angel said that for many years his brother also juggled those jobs with another, managing a movie theater. When he was off from his paid jobs, he could be found in relatives' homes, making repairs.
Evelyn recalled the good times, such as when they dressed up for military balls, or when she made bland meals and delivered them to the firehouse because Alberto didn't eat the spicy food preferred by his colleagues.
And she recalled the anxiety of being a firefighter's wife -- saying she worried less when he was sent to Desert Storm then when he fought fires. On Wednesday, she took a meal to the firehouse and learned he was on temporary assignment on a ladder truck, rather than his normal duty on a pumper truck. The new assignment meant he was more likely to be involved in a dangerous rescue. "I said, 'You have to be careful,' " Evelyn recalled. "He said, 'It's my job.' "
She said Alberto was aware of the risks of his job but "always said, 'If I have to go, I have to go.' "
Born in Ponce, Puerto Rico, in 1960, Tirado moved with his family to the Bronx when he was a child, and then to Passaic. His brother remembered Alberto as a teenager who enjoyed riding his bike, gunning down runners from the outfield with his strong arm, and wrestling for Passaic High School.
Photo By Don Smith/Record
This three-story building fire on Market Street in Passaic claimed the life of one firefighter and seriously injured another Wednesday night.
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The son of an Army man, Tirado signed up for a stint of several years with the Marines, and then followed Angel to work for the post office.
After living in a tenement in Passaic, he moved about 10 years ago to a two-family home in Clifton, and recently to a single-family home on a tree-lined strip of Van Houten Avenue.
He had worked for the Clifton Theatre on Main Avenue, managing a crew of mostly teenage employees, many of whom were holding their first jobs.
Mark Auerbach, the Passaic city historian and also a former employee of the theater -- which was demolished this year -- said Tirado was firm with the teens but generous in giving employees time off or a few extra dollars.
Tirado joined the Fire Department in 1992 with the simple intention of helping people, his brother said.
Lt. Kenneth Martinez, who also is a military veteran and at the time was one of the few Spanish-speaking firefighters in town, said he quickly struck up a friendship with Tirado. There were fun times playing Ping-Pong, shooting pool, and watching "The X-Files." And there where the jokes about Tirado's eating habits -- how he liked both hamburgers and cheese, but not cheeseburgers.
And there were long, serious talks between fires.
"When you have that down time, you develop that bond," Martinez said. "And when you have a situation where your lives are in danger, that bond turns into a tie that is unbreakable."
Martinez insisted that any story about Tirado must include the word "hero" and said "he was almost too aggressive" on the job.
"If someone was in danger, he knew it was his job to go in there, even if it meant putting his own life in danger," Martinez said.
Chief Lou Imparato also was quick to praise Tirado's bravery.
"That's the kind of guy he was," Imparato said. "He wasn't going to be outside debating. He was going to go to work."
Bizub-Quinlan Funeral Home, Van Houten Avenue, Clifton, is handling funeral arrangments.
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