After 41 Years, FDNY Lieutenant Hangs up Turnout Gear

Leonard Greene

New York Daily News

(TNS)

Whether he was pulling a young mother out of a burning building, or helping a kid pump his bicycle tire at a local firehouse, FDNY Lt. Michael Conboy loved being a firefighter because it meant he got to look out for the neighborhood.

“You’re afforded an opportunity to help someone every day,” said Conboy, 65, who retired on Friday after 41 years in the department. “On their worst day, we’re there to help them.”

Conboy has seen his share of bad days. He was on the scene in the Bronx, where a 1990 arson fire killed 87 people who were trapped at the Happy Land Social Club.

He answered the call in 2001, when a Father’s Day blaze killed three firefighters and injured dozens of people at an Astoria hardware store.

And he responded to Belle Harbor, Queens  in 2001, in the weeks after the 9/11 terrorist attack, when a plane crashed on the Rockaway peninsula killing 251 passengers, nine crew members and five Belle Harbor residents.

But Conboy, who spent much of his career assigned to Rescue Co. 3 in the Bronx, said he doesn’t dwell on the tragedies. He focuses on the triumphs.

“You have to push it aside and keep it in perspective,” he said.

And sometimes perspectives change.

When he first joined the FDNY in 1985, his plan was to stay on the job “until the wheels came off.”

Conboy loved being a firefighter so much that he volunteered at the fire department in Montgomery, in upstate Orange County where he lives.

More than 40 years later, it turns out that the wheels are still on, and now he thinks that’s the best time to hang up his hose.

“I’m blessed,” Conboy said. “I have my health and that’s a great thing. And I feel great.”

But Conboy’s career isn’t ending quietly. He was on the ground in Manhattan earlier this month when an apartment building fire killed three people in Inwood.

“It  has been very busy.” Conboy said. “I thought I would exit stage left quietly.  It hasn’t worked out that way.”

Next on Conboy’s list are trips with his his wife to several U.S. national parks, and quality time with his 10 grandchildren.

Will he miss suiting up when he hears a fire engine rumble by?

“I knew it was time,” he said. “I’m truly fortunate and blessed to work 41 years and walk away and still have my health. I’m truly one of the lucky ones.”

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