The FDNY confirmed Tuesday that one of its lieutenants died early Saturday morning of a heart attack after a 24-hour tour.
"He was the heart of the firehouse, he always had a good word to say.""I was shocked. Brian was obviously in good shape, he was a strong guy," Thomas McHugh of Squad Company 41 said at a news conference. "He was the heart of the firehouse, he always had a good word to say."
The department said Sullivan, who worked with Squad Company 41 in the Melrose section of the Bronx, had responded to seven emergencies during a 24-hour tour that ended earlier in the day Friday, including a kitchen fire in a Mott Haven apartment.
Sullivan, a 27-year veteran of the fire department, had complained of pain and discomfort to fellow firefighters throughout the tour but continued responding to calls, according to the FDNY.