A Chelsea firefighter who “exemplified the fire service to the nth degree” lost the fight of his life on Saturday to aggressive esophageal cancer, the city’s director of Emergency Management and 911 Communications said yesterday.
Peter Franz Kannler, a father of two from Townsend whose heroic struggle with the disease was profiled by the Boston Herald in February, was 37 years old.
“Peter was a great, great guy. He really was. Peter was a well-liked guy,” said Chelsea Emergency Management and 911 Communications Director Allan I. Alpert.
“A tough loss,” said Bob Better, the former Chelsea fire chief. Alpert said Kannler, who succumbed after approximately a week in hospice care, will be feted with full honors.
Under the state’s Presumptive Disability Law, Kannler’s death is deemed suffered in the line of duty because he was still on the Chelsea Fire Department roster.