Bill would put Malverne firefighter's name on memorial

In a bid to gain recognition for a fallen Malverne volunteer fireman, firefighters rallied in Mineola Sunday to support a state bill that would enable his name to be added to a memorial in Albany.

The rally comes a month after a state committee denied a fifth appeal by the Malverne Fire Department, which is seeking to inscribe Paul Brady's name on a memorial to more than 2,300 firefighters killed in the line of duty.

Brady, 42, was killed in a July 2006 accident when he was crushed while doing maintenance work on the roof of a fire truck that pulled out of the firehouse on its way to a training exercise.

While the state Workers' Compensation Board pays his widow benefits under its description of "line of duty death," and his name is engraved in national firefighters memorial in Maryland, the 11-member New York State Fallen Firefighters Memorial Committee has found Brady's death does not meet its criteria for line-of-duty death.

Several local and state elected officials, as well as fire service members, Sunday said the decision showed a disdain for volunteers, who are the sole staff of all but two of Long Island's fire departments.

Friday, the State Office of Fire Prevention and Control, whose fire administrator is on the committee hearing appeals on behalf of firefighters, rejected for memorial inclusion, said they stood by the decision.

The proposed amendment would broaden the selection criteria for volunteers by qualifying any member whose death was deemed to have occurred in the line of duty by outside agencies like the compensation board.

"Our heroes in our society are our volunteers," said Assemb. Harvey Weisenberg (D-Long Beach), who co-sponsored the bill with Sen. Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre). "There's a discrimination and an injustice that's taking place."

Malverne Mayor Patricia Ann McDonald called on commission members to approve the engraving of Brady's name or resign from their posts. "We're asking for a final act of recognition for the ultimate sacrifice Paul Brady made and that his family continues to make," she said. "All members should resign tomorrow if they don't put Paul Brady's name on the wall."

For Brady's sister, Patty Duffy of Rockaway, N.J., seeing Brady's name on the granite and marble wall near the Capitol at Empire State Plaza will "help complete the closure."

"It's about honor and respect," she said.