Flags across Connecticut are flying at half-staff in honor of the Hartford husband and father who was killed battling a house fire at 598 Blue Hills Avenue on Tuesday night.
Forty-eight-year-old Kevin Lamont Bell was on the front lines Tuesday night and was among the first to enter the burning building, fire officials said. He's also the first Hartford firefighter to die fighting a fire in 40 years, according to state records.
“The Hartford Fire Department family has lost one of its own. Firefighter Kevin Bell represents and embodies the best in all of us,” Hartford Fire Chief Carlos Huertas said during a news conference Wednesday afternoon. “He made the ultimate sacrifice without hesitation or reservation."
According to the Hartford Firefighters Association, Bell was critically injured and pulled from the burning building in cardiac arrest. He was rushed to Saint Francis Hospital and pronounced dead.
Bell, a member of Engine 16, worked for the fire department for more than six years and leaves behind a wife and daughter, according to Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra.
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His brother, Shawn Bell, said during the news conference that Kevin Bell's work as a firefighter meant everything to him.
“Everything he put his hands toward, he wanted to make sure he did it the right way,” Shawn Bell said, describing his brother as a talented deejay, dedicated athlete and community-oriented resident who was active in his daughter's life.
While joining the fire department was a long-term goal of his, Kevin Bell's childhood dream was to become an NFL running back, his brother said.
"He was very athletic. He was fast. He ran track. He played football, so sports was always his first love," Shawn Bell said. "But when you become an adult and it's time to start taking care of your family, you've got to pursue a career that will help you raise your family in comfortable way and that's what he did."
Segarra said Kevin Bell's death is a tragic blow not only to the firefighter's family but to the city of Hartford as a whole.
"He is one of our own and will not be forgotten," Segarra said. "Our first responders, our men and women of the Hartford Fire Department, put themselves at risk each and every day to protect the residents of the city. It takes an enormous amount of courage to do this. ... For that alone, they are heroes."
On Wednesday morning, Gov. Dannel Malloy ordered state flags lowered to half-staff until a memorial service is held in Bell's honor.
Firefighters draped black bunting at the Blue Hills Fire Station commemorating their fallen brother and saluted on Farmington Avenue as a hearse brought Bell's body to the funeral home.
The massive blaze that took Bell's life and injured three of his colleagues broke out in a two-story home in the city's North End around 6 p.m. on Tuesday.
Firefighter Jason Martinez, 29, of Manchester, a member of Tactical Unit 1, Tour A, suffered burns to more than 10 percent of his body. He was transferred to the burn center of Bridgeport Hospital, where he is in critical but stable condition, Segarra said.
Martinez has been with the department since 2007.
Segarra and the fire chief visited the burn center Tuesday night and spent several hours with Martinez's loved ones.
"The family is holding together as best as they can," Segarra said.
Two other firefighters, 34-year-old Colin McWeeny, of Engine 14, and 51-year-old Kevin Burke, of Engine 5, were treated and released from Saint Francis Hospital. Segarra said both live in Hartford.
"We're bringing a brother home" Firefighters lining the streets in Hartford to salute Kevin Bell. @NBCConnecticut pic.twitter.com/bx4b1DK08I — Tara Joyce (@tarajoycenbc) October 8, 2014
Grief counseling will be available to affected firefighters and family members, according to Huertas.
“Last night’s tragic events are another reminder of the incredible sacrifice that our state’s first responders make on a daily basis,” Gov. Dannel Malloy and Lt. Governor Nancy Wyman said in a joint statement. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of the hero we lost and those who were injured in the line of duty in our capital city.”
The fire forced two families, including four adults and three children, from their homes Tuesday night. Displaced residents are receiving food, clothing and housing help from the Red Cross.
Federal authorities are investigating the fire alongside the state fire marshal. Police said it take several weeks to figure out what sparked the blaze.
Blue Hills Avenue has reopened to traffic Wednesday but will close again Thursday for further investigation, according to Hartford police.
