BOSTON (WHDH) - Heartbroken colleagues of Robert ‘BK’ Kilduff Jr. gathered at their firehouse Sunday to honor his memory less than a day after he lost his life while battling a fast-moving three-alarm blaze at a triple-decker in Dorchester.
“When the mayday came in, my first thought was that it would be BK going to whoever that firefighter is,” said Fire Lt. Greg Kelly. “BK is Rescue 2. He was always upbeat, he always had a smile, he was always able to lighten the mood. He’s just irreplaceable.”
Kilduff, a 24-year veteran of the department, was a third-generation Boston firefighter, with his father and grandfather both serving before him. He was also a Marine Corps veteran.
His colleagues said in the house before he responded to the fire in Dorchester, he saved a girl who was trying to jump off a building in Fenway and then rescued a man who was trapped in an MBTA yard.
And though he loved being a firefighter, his coworkers said he also cherished being a father to his two adult children.
“He prioritized the importance of being a dad. He loved his kids so much,” a colleague said. “He was that example that all of us firefighters, as fathers, as parents aspire to be.”
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