FDNY Members Attend the Funeral Service for Chief of Fire Prevention Ronald R. Spadafora

June 29, 2018

On Friday, June 29th, Fire Commissioner Daniel A. Nigro and FDNY Members attended the funeral service for Chief of Fire Prevention Ronald R. Spadafora at St. Thomas Church in Manhattan.

Chief Spadafora, a 40-year veteran of the Department died of World Trade Center-related cancer on Saturday, June 23rd. Chief Spadafora is the 178th member of the FDNY to die of WTC-related illnesses.


Fire Commissioner Nigro reflected on Chief Spadafora’ s distinguished career. "His loss is a tremendous one for all of us, but we know his legacy of learning, safety, education, and training will live on and will impact generations of the Department yet to come."


"Ronnie did a lot of things in his career, he was everywhere in the Department, he was always a quiet and humble professional," said Chief of Department James E. Leonard.


In addition to being Chief of Fire Prevention, Chief Spadafora served in numerous operational leadership capacities over the span of his career. He supervised the rescue and recovery efforts at the World Trade Center Site as a Deputy Chief and became the World Trade Center Chief of Safety for the entire recovery operation. In 2003, he oversaw the Logistics Section for the FDNY during the New York City Blackout. In 2005, he was the Deputy Incident Commander with the FDNY Incident Management Team (IMT) in New Orleans, tasked with assisting the New Orleans Fire Department in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. In October 2012, he served as Chief of Logistics for the preparation of Hurricane Sandy.

To read FDNY’s new publication aimed to increase awareness of cancer risk, which features an article written by Chief Spadfaora, click here.

For photos from the funeral service, click here.