A Belgian Firefighter riding along with an FDNY fire boat was killed when another vessel slammed into the ship. FDNY’s Marine 1 Bravo was operating in the East River near Pier 11 at about 2200 hours Friday when a charter boat collided with it.
The Firefighter from Belgium, Johnny Beernaert, was critically injured in the crash and died of his injuries at Bellevue Hospital.
He survived an explosion on the job but a collision on the water with colleagues in New York was fatal.
Visiting FDNY Firefighter friends in New York, Diksmuideling Johnny Beernaert was killed in a boat accident on the East River. He suffered life-threatening injuries when the fire boat he was sitting on was hit by a tourist boat. He later died in hospital. Four others were also injured but survived.
Johnny Beernaert, who joined the Diksmuide Fire Brigade 25 years ago and has since also been active as a diver and rescue tech, has had friends with the fire service in the United States for some time now. Internships he participated in in 2015 and 2018 in Oakland and Prince George’s County (Maryland) played a significant role in this. Earlier this month, he flew to the USA for a vacation that again included a number of meetings with local firefighters.
On Friday evening around 10 p.m. local time, Johnny Beernaert sailed on a fireboat on the East River. There, in unknown circumstances, it collided with a tourist boat. De Diksmuideling suffered life-threatening injuries and died shortly after being transferred to Bellevue Hospital. Four other people were also injured, albeit much less badly: a New York firefighter and three civilians, reportedly including Heidi Vermandel, Beernaert’s wife. Everyone on the other boat involved in the accident was unharmed.
Escaped Death
Johnny Beernaert, a very popular figure in the fire service circles, escaped death earlier. In January 2009, he and his younger colleague Bart Sansen suffered life-threatening injuries when an explosion occurred in a house along the Eikhofstraat in Diksmuide. The duo had entered fully equipped to do reconnaissance for the roof fire that was raging. Both suffered permanent injuries from the explosion but fought like lions and successfully to get back to work with the fire service.
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Skudin, who was to turn 46 Sunday, died while driving his family to visit the Biltmore Estate on Friday afternoon, his wife, Angela Skudin, told Newsday on Saturday night. Angela Skudin said her husband — with their children CJ, 10, and Ben, 19 — were driving up the estate’s driveway when a 2,000-pound tree limb fell and crushed their vehicle, killing Casey Skudin instantly. There was no storm, only some gusts of wind, she said.
“I knew my husband was gone,” she said. “So I just grabbed his hand and told him he was the best. He was the best dad.”
An FDNY spokesman Saturday night confirmed that Skudin, a 16-year department veteran firefighter assigned to Ladder 137 in the Rockaways, had died, although the spokesman didn’t provide information on the circumstances.
A spokesperson for the Biltmore Estate, an Asheville tourist attraction that includes a historic mansion, told The Asheville Citizen Times that high winds caused by a “weather event” were to blame for the fallen tree and that an investigation was underway.
Casey Skudin’s cousins operate the well known Skudin Surf surfing school based in Long Beach. Angela Skudin owns The Codfish Cowboy, a curated goods shop in Long Beach.
Skudin had planned the vacation for his outdoorsy family, mapping out an itinerary filled with hiking, white-water rafting and plans to go to an indie rock concert on Saturday, his wife said. It was the family’s first vacation since the coronavirus pandemic. The Skudins even took a family photo to celebrate.
Friday “was such a good day of his life,” Angela Skudin said.
Casey Skudin was devoted to his family, his wife said. In between his career as a firefighter at Ladder 137 and a 20-year stint as an ocean lifeguard, Skudin juggled daily household chores and supported his wife in her interior design business while she battled Lyme disease, which kept her bedridden for 18 months, she said. She was finally back on her feet in time for their family vacation.
The two — neighbors living across the street from each other at the time in Point Lookout — met 20 years ago, Skudin said. Ben was an infant when his mother wed Skudin, and on his 18th birthday, Skudin legally adopted him.
“The greatest gift he ever gave me was he adopted our oldest son Ben and made us a complete family,” said Angela Skudin.
No plans have yet been set for Skudin’s funeral, his wife said.