WORCESTER -- The widow of fallen Lancaster firefighter Martin "Marty" McNamara V gave birth to the couple's third daughter Thursday, naming the baby girl after a father she will never know. Claire McNamara of Clinton gave birth to a healthy daughter, Marty Frances McNamara, at 11:28 a.m. Thursday, according to officials at UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester.
"She's doing just fine," hospital spokeswoman Alison Duffy said of the baby girl, who weighed seven pounds, 13 ounces.
The baby was born five days after her 31-year-old father died in the line of duty at a Saturday morning apartment blaze in Lancaster.
Martin McNamara was in the first attack line of firefighters who responded to explosions and subsequent fire at 76 Mill St.
The call, or part-time, firefighter had helped pull a hose into the cellar of the home along with three Clinton firefighters, according to statements from the state fire marshal's office.
All four men were injured, but the three Clinton firefighters survived.
"(McNamara) became disoriented and trapped in the basement," a statement from the fire marshal's office said.
One of the four, Clinton Deputy Fire Chief John McLaughlin, who twice tried to get Martin McNamara out of the building, was the last to be released from the hospital.
McLaughlin was sent home Wednesday after being treated for severe smoke inhalation and thermal burns.
The investigation into the cause of the fire was still under way Thursday.
"It's been such a whirlwind week, I believe everybody's just pleased the baby's in the world now, safe and healthy," said the Rev. Kenneth Cardinale, priest at the family's parish, St. John the Evangelist Church in Clinton.
