Charles H. Furey, born on December 3, 1868, in Brooklyn, New York, spent nearly forty years with the Fire Department of New York (FDNY), leaving a legacy of bravery and sacrifice. Charles was inspired by his father, Robert J. Furey, a bell ringer for the Brooklyn Volunteer Fire Department, as well as his cousin William H. Furey, who was instrumental in the formation of one of Brooklyn’s first firefighting companies.
Charles joined the FDNY in 1891 at age 22. His 39-year career spanned a transformative period for the FDNY. He began as a firefighter in an era of horse-drawn steam pumpers, facing the city’s industrial and tenement fires with rudimentary gear—leather helmets, wool coats, and no breathing apparatus. Brooklyn, his lifelong home, was a hotspot for blazes, from factory fires to Coney Island’s flammable amusement district. Over the decades, Furey rose through the ranks, becoming a lieutenant, then captain, and briefly serving as Acting Battalion Chief by 1920. That year, during a fire at the Liberman Bros. shoe factory, a collapsing wall severely injured him. Deputy Chief John O’Hara heroically carried Furey to safety, an event reported in the New York Times on February 29, 1920, highlighting his leadership under pressure.
By 1930, Furey was Captain of Engine Company 245 in Coney Island, a unit housed at 2929 West 8th Street. He had witnessed the FDNY’s modernization, from hand-pumped engines to motorized apparatus, and contributed to its growth as the city’s population soared past 8 million.
On February 14, 1930, at age 61, Furey responded to a fire in Coney Island—a small, smokey fire at W. 10th Street and the boardwalk. While leading the crew to the area under the boardwalk, his men cautioned him to get to clear air. He replied. “It’s all right boys. I’ll stay with you till you wet it down.” Five minutes later, he was carried out unconscious. He died on the boardwalk, succumbing to one of the many hazards of the job, smoke inhalation. His death marked him as one of the FDNY’s line-of-duty fatalities, a somber honor among over 1,100 by 2025.
Furey was a family man, survived by his wife of 34 years, Mary, and seven children. Two of his sons, Robert and Claude, policemen with the NYPD, were among the first responders to the fire. Also present as Furey breathed his last, a priest from a nearby Catholic Church, who administered Last Rites. Furey was a Catholic, active in his local parish.
Charles H. Furey’s legacy endures in the department’s history, reflecting the grit of a firefighter who bridged the FDNY’s past and future, from volunteer roots to professional heroism. His life embodied the FDNY’s ethos of service.
