Thousands expected to honor FDNY firefighter who died in accident

FDNY firefighter Steven Pollard was killed in a fall from the Mill Basin Bridge in Brooklyn Sunday night. Credit: FDNY via Twitter
Thousands of firefighters from the tristate area are expected to attend the wake and funeral this week of FDNY’s Steven H. Pollard, who fell to his death Sunday off a bridge in Brooklyn while trying to help auto accident victims.
FDNY officials said a wake for firefighter Pollard, 30, will take place Wednesday and Thursday at the Marine Park Funeral Home, 3024 Quentin Rd., Brooklyn. Visitation will be from 7 to 9 p.m. on Wednesday and 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. on Thursday.
A funeral Mass will take place at 11:30 a.m. on Friday at Good Shepherd Church, 1950 Batchelder St., Brooklyn. FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro and Mayor Bill de Blasio are scheduled to give eulogies, along with other speakers, said a spokesman for the FDNY.
Pollard, who just finished his probationary period with FDNY, died from multiple blunt impact injuries after he fell about 52 feet through a two-foot gap separating the eastbound and westbound sections of the Mill Basin Bridge on the Belt Parkway in Brooklyn. Nigro said Pollard fell while trying to cross over the gap to assist victims of a two-car accident.
Pollard’s death was ruled accidental by the medical examiner's office. But exactly what happened, including the entire response and operations of Ladder Company 170 to which Pollard was assigned, was under investigation, according to the department spokesman. State occupational safety and health officials also said they were investigating.
The gap through which Pollard fell essentially divided two 2.645-foot bridge structures that were recently constructed to replace the older obsolete bridge, which was prone to deterioration and traffic delays. The gap, which extended the entire length of the bridge, was surrounded by a 42-inch high barrier on both sides but not covered. City officials didn’t respond to questions about whether gap coverings were required.
The gap helped each separate structure to expand and contract with changes in weather, said Richard N. Cochrane, an official with the American Society of Highway Engineers. Cochrane said that about 20 years ago a person fell between a wider eight-foot gap between two spans of highway bridge in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. After that accident, chain link fencing was placed horizontally over the gap, he noted.
Records show that the prime contractor on the $263 million Mill Basin Bridge project was Halmar International, of upstate Nanuet. Officials at Halmar didn’t return numerous requests for comment about the accident.

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