New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady witnessed the nine-alarm fire that took the lives of two Boston firefighters on Wednesday. It was only four doors down from his home, and Brady said it was one of the scariest experiences of his life.
The nine-alarm fire took the lives of two firefighters, Lieutenant Edward J. Walsh Jr. and Michael R. Kennedy, and “left 13 other firefighters injured and engulfed the neighborhood in black smoke.”
“I can’t express my gratitude and thanks enough to all the first responders and people that were there fighting that fire all night last night,” Brady said in an interview on Thursday. “I had a first-hand view of all the action and was just blown away by the bravery, the teamwork that they displayed.”
Tom Brady watches as a 9 alarm fire rips through a home 2 doors down from his home at the 300 block of Beacon St. pic.twitter.com/paNrNKKS2L
— Boston Herald (@bostonherald) March 27, 2014
“I feel so badly for the families of the two firefighters that were lost and obviously all the men that were fighting that fire yesterday losing one of their close friends,” Brady said. “We as athletes think we’re heroes, but when you witness first-hand what we saw yesterday you realize who the real heroes are in this world. It’s the people that work hard to protect our lives and protect our safety … certainly the firefighters and Boston police and the state troopers. I just want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
Brady credited the firefighters repeatedly, saying, “our lives were never in jeopardy at all thanks to those brave men fighting that fire for us.”
“It was a very intense day of weather and wind. You just can’t imagine all those things that really happened, how quickly those things can get out of control. I have a newfound respect for nature and what it’s all about and under those conditions for those men to watch them try to put out the fire in freezing conditions and all the different elements they had to deal with. There’s no way to prepare for things like that.”
According to ESPN, Brady said, “Those firemen, they’re in our thoughts and prayers all day.”
“Without them it could have been a very tragic day for not only the houses in the neighborhood but the lives of the people they kept safe,” he said.
Photo: Boston Herald
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