FDNY Chief, Hudson Valley Resident, Dies as Suspected Marijuana House Blows up

Fire Chief Michael Fahy was killed early Tuesday morning when a possible marijuana grow house exploded in the Bronx during an investigation into a possible gas leak near West 234th Street and Tibbett Avenue, according to the Fire Department of the City of New York.

More than 20 people were injured in the explosion that killed the Yonkers resident, who grew up in Rockland County and graduated from North Rockland High School.

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"It's a very sad day for our city," Mayor Bill de Blasio said Tuesday. "We had a tragedy today."

His feelings were echoed by Yonkers city officials.

“Battalion Chief Michael Fahy was a true Yonkers hero in every sense of the word," said Senate Democratic Conference Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins. "He served the New York City Fire Department with dignity and bravery for seventeen years and went above and beyond the call of duty as a firefighter, leader, father and husband. Yonkers feels the pain of his loss, and none of us will forget the sacrifice he made for New York. My heart goes out to his wife, Fiona, their three children, family and friends. Rest in peace, Michael."

Fahy was a 17-year department veteran, chief of the FDNY's 19th Battalion and a father to three young children — two boys and a girl, ages 6, 8 and 11.

“It’s always difficult to grasp the passing of a hero, especially when he’s one of our own," said Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino. "Today, FDNY Battalion Chief Michael Fahy, of Yonkers, died in the line of duty. We send our prayers to his wife, Fiona, and his entire family, and hope his three children somehow find comfort in knowing their dad died protecting others.”

Also transported to nearby hospitals with minor injuries, according to fire officials: Six officers with the New York City Police Department; two workers with the Con Edison gas company; three civilians; and nine other firefighters.

Fahy was "one of our rising stars," FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro said with tears in his eyes at a press conference Tuesday morning at the New York-Presbyterian branch at the northern tip of Manhattan, where Fahy had been declared dead hours earlier.

"We lost a hero today," the commissioner said.

"It's a terrible loss for the Fahy family," Nigro, who knew Fahy's father (also a fireman), told a crowd of reporters at the hospital. "It's a loss for the fire department family. We are a family. We feel it deeply. We feel it deeply today."

Firefighters arrived at 300 West 234th St. in the Kingsbridge neighborhood around 6:30 a.m. to investigate reports of a strong gas odor coming from the building, according to the FDNY.

Soon after, firefighters were joined by police officers, NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill said, who had been investigating that apartment as a possible marijuana grow house — based on, he said, "some preliminary information we received." (O'Neill would not elaborate when pressed at the Tuesday morning press conference.)

The house exploded due to an apparent gas leak around 7:30 a.m., officials said — blowing pieces of its roof out onto the street and injuring a group of cops, firefighters and Con-Ed workers who were standing on the street.

Fahy "was struck on his head and other parts of his body" by the fallout, Nigro said.

No one was inside the building at the time of the blast, and nearby neighbors had been evacuated, he said.

De Blasio called Fahy "a very devoted father of three, a very devoted member of the FDNY and a good man."

"We spent time with his wife and his parents here at the hospital, and saw the unspeakable pain when they were told formally they had lost Michael," de Blasio said.

This marks the first on-duty death of an FDNY firefighter in two years, according to Nigro.

NYPD detectives were still at the cordoned-off scene of the blast Tuesday afternoon, investigating the cause of the apparent gas leak and looking into the tenants renting the apartment that exploded, according to the NYPD.

Watch the video of the press conference held by the NYC mayor and the heads of the FDNY and the NYPD at New York-Presbyterian here.

By Brendan Krisel (Patch National Staff). Patch Editor Lanning Taliaferro contributed to this report.

PHOTOS: Michael Fahy/ FDNY. Explosion site/ via the NYC Mayor's Office.