Body Of Volunteer Firefighter Recovered After Assisted-Living Center Blaze

The body of a volunteer firefighter who entered a New York assisted-living facility while responding to a large fire has been recovered, local authorities announced Wednesday.

Jared Lloyd, 35, was one of more than 100 firefighters who responded to a fire at Evergreen Court Home in Spring Valley, a town of a little more than 30,000 residents.

“This is a very difficult day for our County, and also for the volunteers who risked their lives in protecting all of us,” said Rockland County Executive Ed Day on Wednesday, according to a video clip of a press conference shared by the Associated Press.

One resident was killed in the fire and thirteen other residents were taken to the hospital with various injuries, including one resident who was in critical condition, said authorities, reports AP. Two firefighters were also taken to the hospital.

“It’s one of your worst nightmares,” said Chris Rear, Rockland County’s fire coordinator, reports The New York Times. “It’s not your typical house fire where there’s five or six residents. You’re talking about an adult care facility where you have over 100 people.”

Lloyd, a father of two young children, was one of the first firefighters at the nursing home fire, which killed one resident and displaced over 100 more. As the nursing home burned, Lloyd searched through the blaze “determined to rescue anyone who may have been trapped,” Day added in the Wednesday press conference. “His loss is devastating.”

According to the Rockland Westchester Journal News, Lloyd was on the third floor of the building when he issued a “mayday” call. Firefighters did not hear from him again, and found his body late Tuesday night, minutes before his oldest son’s 6th birthday.

“He was a great dad. Are you kidding me, man?” Calvin Lloyd, the firefighter’s father, told the news agency in an interview. “That’s what hurts me so much, that those boys are going to miss him. They loved him so much. They loved him as much as I loved him.”

“This is an unspeakable tragedy at Evergreen Court Home and our hearts and prayers go out to all individuals and families who have been impacted…” said Denise Kerr, the nursing home’s director, reports ABC-7. “We are fully cooperating with all state and local authorities in the investigation of this fire and are conducting our own internal investigation as well. Our staff was truly heroic in evacuating residents who were inside the building as the fire spread, and we are forever grateful to the first responders whose actions undoubtedly saved lives.”

Rockland County Sheriff Louis Falco said Wednesday that officials don’t currently have any indication of how the fire started, and that the scene remains under investigation.

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