Glendale lost one an amazing person this past April 20th when Firefighter William Tolley, a 14-year FDNY veteran, fell from a rooftop to his death after extinguishing a fire in a Ridgewood apartment. The tragic accident claimed the life of a devoted husband, father and colleague. A story about Tolley’s heroism is reposted here from the FDNY Foundation:

“On September 11, we went to the roof of our firehouse in Hicksville and we could see the towers burning. There was no question as to whether we were going to go there or not. It was a no-brainer. All we wanted to do was help. We had two of our own guys in there and we wanted to do everything that we could. Billy and I, and about five other guys, we were there all night. We didn’t sleep. We just kept searching,” says Hicksville Volunteer Fire Department Ex-Captain Jim Fogarty, who served alongside William N. Tolley when he was a volunteer Firefighter in Hicksville, and who took this photo of Firefighter Tolley during the rescue and recovery efforts at the World Trade Center.

“Billy taught me almost everything I know when it comes to firefighting. He loved to teach and he loved to learn. He was very generous on calls, he was always willing to let us try and learn. But more than his role as a Firefighter, I want people to know that he was a wonderful person. He was a hardcore rocker and a Firefighter, with a baby seat in the back of his minivan. Billy touched a lot of people. He was one of those guys who was never in a bad mood. He was always smiling, even if he had something going on, you would never know it. There aren’t too many people like that in the world.”

To contribute to the “William N. Tolley's Children's Educational Fund,” please visit www.fdnyfoundation.org/donate and select the fund from the drop down menu.