BOSTON (WHDH) - A Sunday wake and Monday funeral are set for Boston firefighter Robert “BK” Kilduff Jr. He died in the line of duty Saturday after a fall at a burning home in Dorchester.
“It just broke my heart. I was thinking about his kids, his family,” Payton Lima said. “He loved them more than anything. It broke my heart. It really did.”
Payton Lima’s family knows that pain all too well. Her great-grandfather, Boston firefighter Charles Buchanan, died in the line of duty in 1947. Back then, families got no assistance or recognition.
75 years later, Kilduff made it right. Getting a memorial plaque to Buchanan placed on the firehouse, naming an engine after him, and giving his daughter a badge of honor.
“I think BK giving her that closure, that recognition she deserved, really made her feel whole again,” Lima said.
As people continue to visit Kilduff’s firehouse and drop off notes and flowers, the grief inside is heavy.
— Frank Siller from Tunnels to Towers speaks to 7NEWS —
Photos of Kilduff line the walls. He did not just work there; his colleagues were his friends and his family.
So on Monday, four comfort dogs were brought in from Bridgewater State University, where BK was a reserve police officer, as well as from Bunker Hill Community College and the Plymouth fire department.
“You can focus on the dog who has absolute love, no judgment, and they can just focus on that, and for a slight moment, it allows them to deal with that grief while in crisis,” Robert McEvoy, Bridgewater State University.
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