Patrick Byrne, 39, had been with the FDNY since 1994. Before he joined he had studied accounting and started a roofing company. On the job, he was apparently the practical joker of the crew, known for pouring whole buckets of water from roof onto the unsuspecting. “He was a character, but he was a real good guy, a good fireman,” said a fellow firefighter.
The youngest of 9 children, Byrne did construction work on the side and played league softball including with the Red Hook Raiders. If anybody asked him, his job was simply “fighting fires, saving lives.”