Wayne Man Who Died In Bike Crash 'Lived' To Help Others As Firefighter, Report Says

WAYNE, NJ — A township man who died in a bicycling accident Monday "lived" to help others as a Paterson firefighter, his wife said.

Kerry Rivera, a 13-year veteran of the Paterson Fire Department, died after the mountain bike he was riding fell 20 feet off a cliff in a reservation near Cedar Grove Reservoir, officials said.

Rivera's brother Michael told Rena Rivera, Kerry's wife, the news that her husband died.

RELATED: Wayne Bicyclist Falls Off Cliff, Dies

"I couldn't believe it," Rena Rivera told NJ.com. "It's still unbelievable."

Rena said the Paterson Fire Department was her husband's "home away from home."
"There was definitely a brothership there and he loved helping people," she told NJ.com. "He loved everything about it."

Friends expressed their sympathy to Rena Rivera on Facebook.

Rena and Kerry met when she was a 16-year-old student at Wayne Hills High School. Kerry was a graduate of Passaic High School. They met through Kerry's family, NJ.com reported. They were married in 1992, the report said.

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