A funeral will be held this week for a Staten Island firefighter who died fighting a blaze in Williamsburg over the weekend.
Lieutenant Gordon Ambelas died while searching for victims in a cluttered high-rise apartment late Saturday night, according to the FDNY. The two-alarm blaze was sparked by an air conditioning electrical cord pinched between a bed frame and the wall of a 19th floor apartment, said Commissioner Daniel Nigro in a statement on Sunday.
A wake for Ambelas, 40, will be held at the Casey McCallum Rice Funeral Home in Staten Island Tuesday and Wednesday. The funeral will be held in St. Clare’s Church on Thursday, according to the FDNY.
Ambelas was married with two young daughters, said an FDNY spokesman.
His wife, Nanette, wrote a heart-breaking note on her Facebook page on Sunday.
“My life and my children’s has forever been changed I was lucky enough to call you my husband for almost 10 wonderful years and thank you for giving me two of the most special part of you Gabriella and Giovanna had the best father in the world,” she wrote. “How do I say goodby [sic] to you matt you were my everything and the rock of this family. My heart will never heal and I will love you forever. I want more time!!! Sleep with the angels baby and we will be together again until then I will raise our girls to make you proud I love you matt.”
The apartment was heavily cluttered with debris and belongings, according to the FDNY, making the search more difficult and dangerous.
Last month, Ambelas was recognized after he saved a 7-year-old Brooklyn boy in May whose head and arm became trapped in a roll-down gate.
