New York City will add the name of a firefighter who died in 1935 to the Fire Department of New York's memorial wall, the city's law department said Wednesday, ending a year-long struggle by his descendants who insisted his death was due to an injury he suffered while battling a blaze.
The grandson of firefighter Tom O'Brien went to court in October to get him added to the wall that honors those firefighters who died as a result of a fire. O'Brien had been fighting a Manhattan fire on Oct. 27, 1935, and upon returning to his firehouse, went to sleep and never woke up. Arthur O'Brien said an autopsy from the time showed his grandfather had a skull fracture along with brain lacerations, apparently from the fire, and listed the death being caused by those injuries. It also noted he had ingested large amounts of alcohol, which his descendants insisted was an attempt at self-medication for the head injury.