The Quadrangle

Issue date: 2/2/05 Section: News

In a day marked by the most deaths in the line of duty by the FDNY since September 11, 2001, Manhattan College graduate John Bellew perished while fighting a fire that spread through a Bronx apartment building last Monday afternoon. Faced with what Mayor Michael Bloomberg Called a "horrifying choice," Bellew and Lt. Curtis Meyran jumped to their deaths on East 178th street when surrounded by a fire that gave them no other formidable option.

An overheated extension cord in one apartment led to the ignition of a nearby mattress, which quickly set adjacent rooms on fire creating a blaze that took several FDNY crews to extinguish. As teams moved from floor to floor, the group containing John Bellew and Lt. Curtis Meyran of Ladder Company 27 became separated by other teams fighting the fire. As the group of six firefighters became pinned against a wall of fire, they attempted to exit the building through windows on the fifth story of the building. As the men deployed safety ropes once issued as standard equipment for all FDNY firefighters, time became too short to wait for the safety rope, and the men made the difficult decision to jump from the building.

In a Rockland County service last week, Mayor Bloomberg, Cardinal Edward Egan, Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta, and firefighters from as far as Canada came to pay respects to a man who was widely regarded as a hero by both his fellow firefighters, and his neighbors.

Originally an investment banker for Brown Brothers Harriman, Bellew left his Wall Street career behind in order to follow his passion for firefighting. In what appeared to be a genetic calling to the dangerous occupation, Bellew was one of many firefighters in the family, including his brother and two of his cousins. A friend of Bellew, Kieran Doran, said in an ABC Channel 7 interview, "I remember vividly when he made the decision to leave that world and join the fire department. It surprised a lot of people but if you knew John, that's what made him happy, he's that kind of guy." Bellew came to Manhattan as a business major, and graduated in 1989. Bellew spent five years on Wall Street before he began firefighting. A few months away from a promotion to Lieutenant, Bellew is remembered by friends and family as a man of incredible character, and a firefighter with both finesse and tenacity.

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