The New York Daily News reports that Internal Bleeding drummer and 14-year FDNY veteran William (“Bill”) Tolley died earlier today in a freak accident fighting a fire in Queens, after falling five stories from a roof.

Tolley’s death was allegedly not directly related to the fire, which was described as “routine” and a “small blaze” three floors below and was confined to a single room in a one-bedroom apartment. The fire was “mainly extinguished” by the time Tolley fell. Two witnesses described seeing Tolley take a misstep as he attempted to transfer himself from the bucket at the end of a ladder onto the roof.

FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro offered the following: “It was a routine operation, and somehow he fell from the roof. It is a terrible tragedy for a department that has known more than its share of tragedy.”

Tolley leaves behind his wife, Marie, and an eight-year-old daughter. The Daily News has cell-phone video of Tolley’s fan, which we should warn you, is not for the faint of heart.

Internal Bleeding issued the following statement via Facebook:

Our drummer, the heartbeat of the band, William Tolley died today. There are ZERO WORDS to describe the loss. He was a good, decent and honorable man who loved his friends, his family and the people he served. There will never be another like him. There are no words to describe the utter sadness and despair we feel right now. We love you Bill.

We wish Tolley’s family, friends and bandmates all the best during this unbelievably tragic and difficult time. We ask everyone in the metal community to crank some Internal Bleeding — one of the most important slam bands in history — as loud as fucking possible in Tolley’s memory.

Thanks: Chris C.