Boston News: Kilduff Family Remembers Bobby at Rescue 2 After Death

Boston news centered Friday on Robert “Bobby” Kilduff Jr.’s family, who gathered inside Rescue 2 headquarters in Roxbury after the Boston firefighter died in the line of duty Saturday. Kilduff fell from a third-story window while extinguishing a three-alarm blaze, was rushed to Boston Medical Center, and later died that night.

His daughter, Hanna Jane Kilduff, 24, said her father did not need to know someone to help them. She said, “He didn’t have to know you to want to help you,” and added, “I can’t even say that I wish he didn’t have that job, because he loved it so much.”

Rescue 2 Headquarters

The family gathered at the Roxbury headquarters on Friday as firefighters stood near the Rescue 2 truck. A wall nearby had been turned into a memorial with flowers, signs and photos, giving the family a place to speak about him while the tribute kept growing around them.

Mason Kilduff, 22, said his father was often the firefighter helping organize honors for others killed in the line of duty. He said, “You never really expect it to happen to you, but we had always been aware of the dangers of the job.”

Mason Kilduff

Mason, who is stationed in North Carolina with the Marines, said his father also showed up when the family needed him. He recalled that after a tiny little medical emergency, his father immediately booked a flight south and came to see him.

“I was like ‘I’m fine,’” Mason said. “He’s like ‘Yeah, I just thought I’d com”

He said, “I always just think about the amount of lives he saved himself, not to even mention the rest of the Boston Fire Department,” and added, “The lives that he saved that he didn’t know he saved, being the guy someone could go to.”

Family and firefighters

Jess Spruell, 43, and other family members also joined the remembrance as stories poured in from firefighters, neighbors, volunteers and strangers. Mason said the support around the family had been broad and steady, describing Boston firefighters as “the big brothers and sisters you never knew you had” and saying, “Everybody has been exactly what you needed at the time. It has been amazing, they have been very accommodating and very, very supportive.”

Hanna Jane Kilduff said her father was more than a firefighter, calling him “a hero outside of just being a firefighter.” She said people talked about him as “a coach and as a mentor and then obviously as a father... you can be a hero in a lot of ways. I mean, he was a hero in all.”

The family’s remembrance came after a sudden line-of-duty death and a memorial that has already taken shape at Rescue 2. For Boston firefighters and the people who knew him, the practical next step is carrying that support into the days after the funeral home-style gathering at headquarters, where the flowers, signs and photos now mark the spot where colleagues and relatives came to grieve together.