Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
(TNS)
Nov. 21—Colleagues in the Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire on Thursday remembered fallen Battalion Chief John Walsh as a portrait of what it meant to be a firefighter and a Pittsburgher.
An emotional Chief Darryl Jones described his longtime friend and colleague as a consummate professional who was a mentor to younger firefighters and a confidant and sounding board for his peers. He called Chief Walsh his go-to guy.
"We are always going to be better for what John has given us," Chief Jones said.
Chief Walsh, a 37-year veteran of the city's fire bureau and a battalion chief for more than a decade, died late Wednesday of a heart-related condition as he commanded the scene of a house fire in East Hills. He was 60.
Chief Jones said the battalion chief had a special relationship with his crews and a command presence that could turn a hectic situation into efficient calm.
"Firefighters are running on adrenaline and training, and he was the calm voice," he said. "No screaming on the radio, no screaming at people — he was just giving his instructions calmly, and his calmness was contagious."
And his uniform was immaculate, the chief said.
"He looked the part. He was the part."
Chief Walsh was severely injured fighting a blaze on East Carson Street in 1994 when, according to a Post-Gazette story from the time, he suffered third-degree burns to his arm and back after he came into contact with a live electrical wire.
"They didn't think he was going to recover from that," Chief Jones said Thursday. "He did ... and he returned to the job full strength and ready to go."
In an Aug. 27, 1994, interview from what was then the Mercy Hospital Burn Unit, Chief Walsh relayed to a reporter what he told his fellow firefighters as he was taken away from the fire scene two weeks earlier: "I'm still here and I'll be back — that's what I told them before I left in the ambulance."
He could have retired right then and there, Chief Jones said Thursday. But he didn't. That's Pittsburgh culture, he said: You're tough.
"And John exhibited that," he said. "We are going to hold up his memory, his standard, his legacy, and we, too, will be resilient and tough."
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette —East Hills fire, Nov. 20, 2024
The fire on Wilkinsburg Avenue started around 9 p.m., and Chief Walsh collapsed about an hour later as he commanded the scene, according to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner's Office. He was taken to UPMC Presbyterian where he died about 11 p.m.
A procession led his body from the Oakland hospital to the medical examiner's office in the Strip District, and he will be watched over by an honor guard every moment until his funeral and burial.
As night turned to day, fellow firefighters put their fallen chief's firefighting gear outside Pittsburgh's Station 8 in East Liberty as a solemn memorial. As news of Chief Walsh's death spread, retired city firefighter Mike Suska worked on the gardening outside the station. A lot of people would be stopping by to pay respects, he said, and he wanted to make sure the landscaping looked nice.
A memorial is set up outside Station 8 in East Liberty honoring battalion Chief John P. Walsh, who died while commanding a fire in Pittsburgh's East Hills neighborhood on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024.A memorial is set up outside Station 8 in East Liberty honoring battalion Chief John P. Walsh, who died while commanding a fire in Pittsburgh's East Hills neighborhood on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024.( King Jemison/Post-Gazette)
"He was a good firefighter, a good chief, ran a good fire," said Mr. Suska, who worked for decades alongside Chief Walsh. "We had a lot of dinners together and broke bread together."
The battalion chief was a mentor to younger firefighters and gave good guidance even as he neared the end of his career, Mr. Suska said.
"A lot of people looked up to him," he said. "He'll be missed."
Ralph Sicuro, president of the union representing city firefighters, called Chief Walsh an amazing leader.
"He mentored a lot of young firefighters throughout their careers, getting to see a lot of them become officers, which he took great pride in, and he touched a lot of hearts," Mr. Sicuro said, his voice faltering for a moment. "We're definitely going to miss him."
Indeed, said Chief Jones: "He was an excellent leader, and I call him my friend, and I'm going to miss him."
He said he and Chief Walsh both started their firefighting careers in 1987, and they would "compare being the 'old guys.'
"Just a couple days ago we were talking about, what would retirement be like," he said.
Chief Walsh is survived by his wife, Mary, and his parents. His father is a retired Pittsburgh fire battalion chief. Chief Jones said he sat with Mr. Walsh last night and talked.
"Just me listening to him talk about the love he had and the pride he had for his son," he said. "So we told them that this isn't over. You're part of the family, and as part of being in the Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire family, we will stick with you. We will take care of you. We will stand by your side."
Similar messages of support and condolence poured in from across the country. Chief Jones said that just as his bureau takes care of each other, so, too, does the wider firefighting community.
"We are the American fire service. We are a part of that. We are, perhaps, the last sanctuary of unselfishness in this society that we have today," he said. "We give all, we expect nothing much in return, and we don't complain.
"And that was the way that John was," he continued. "He was always 100%, and if it wasn't 100% then it wasn't going to be anything. And so we stand by that."
A viewing for Chief Walsh will be held 2-8 p.m. Sunday at Slater Funeral Home in Green Tree. A funeral mass will be 10 a.m. Monday at St. Paul Cathedral in Oakland.
Staff writer King Jemison contributed.
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