VIDEO: Services set for Poughkeepsie firefighter Timothy Gunther

After 21 years of turning out for the city's emergencies, firefighter Timothy Gunther responded to his last alarm Monday.

Services have been set for the 54-year-old Beekman man, who died from cardiac-related issues after battling a fatal blaze on Monday.

Gunther's viewing will be held Saturday from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. at McHoul Funeral Home in Hopewell Junction.

On Monday, a short, public ceremony will be held at Poughkeepsie's Public Safety Building — the department's headquarters, at 505 Main Street — followed by a public funeral service with full fire department honors at the Mid-Hudson Civic Center at 10:30 a.m.

"Mustaches are optional, but encouraged," Gunther's obituary reads.

Gunther's death rocked the fire department he loved.

As temperatures rose into the 80s on Monday, Gunther and his fellow firefighters battled a blaze at a Church Street home. It already was a deadly fire, claiming the life of a resident. The 21-year-veteran of the City of Poughkeepsie Fire Department moved throughout the scene, helping to suppress the flames and recover the body of the victim.

It started, first, as a shortness of breath and a tingling in his left arm.

"They were keeping the fire at bay on the lower floors, while the rescue team went to the second floor," city Fire Chief Mark Johnson said, and Gunther was helping out with all the tasks. "A little bit after, when things started to subside, he mentioned to his supervisor that he had some tingling in his left arm, and that his shoulder felt funny."

The married father of two was taken to Vassar Brothers Medical Center, but his condition worsened at the hospital, Johnson said.

He was taken into surgery for a bypass operation, but Tuesday morning, he was taken off life support and died of cardiac-related issues.

Gunther had no known medical condition, according to Johnson and he had just had his respiratory test in November.

His death was the first in the line of duty fatality since 1971, Johnson said.

Free uniform cleanings for Poughkeepsie, Arlington firefighters

Firefighters know how dangerous their jobs can be, but never think a death is "going to happen here to us," Johnson said. Gunther was "trying to save the life of another person, and he paid the ultimate sacrifice."

Gunther was described as an exemplary firefighter and good friend by Johnson, who spoke before more than 20 firefighters and city officials at the Public Safety Building in Poughkeepsie Tuesday afternoon.

Some wiped tears from their eyes as officials spoke.

He was more than that, though.

He was an amateur playwright.

He was a man who took pride in being his fire station's "Jeopardy" champ.

He was a 1978 John Jay High School graduate.

And, before his life as a firefighter, he was an English teacher.

"He was very intelligent," Johnson said.

Author

Gunther belonged to Hudson Valley Playwrights, a local group that meets for weekly workshops to develop their plays.

A play Gunther wrote is set to debut this Sunday during the group's first Short Play Festival at the Center for Performing Arts at Rhinebeck. The play, "The International Association of Competitive Poets" is described online as "a lighter look at poetry, competition and love."

Lisa Kimball, another member of the playwrights' group, said Gunther "was a really good guy, very smart and kind...who seemed like he just enjoyed life. He was one of those people that didn't ever seem like he had an ulterior motive."

"He was always writing...he was working on a full-length play about firefighters...it was a comedy," added Kimball, whose own husband is a New York City firefighter. "You always wanted to hear his work."

Gunther was in the process of launching a website, which would allow people to leave memorial tributes to loved ones, Kimball said.

Firefighting

He became a city firefighter in 1994, Johnson said. It was the only department he ever worked for.

Gunther wrote a first-person farewell to Deputy Chief Joe Kelley of the Hartsdale Fire Department, who died in January 2013. The piece was published in the Journal in February that year.

"It doesn't really matter how Joe died but only how he lived and how his life affected everyone he knew," Gunther wrote in the article.

He was part of a team of firefighters given a unit citation award in 2011 for a Hudson River rescue, according to Journal archives. Gunther was a 2008 General Salute to Heroes Award winner, for "making a difference in keeping patients alive before and after Advanced Life Support."

"It is all too often that we hear the distinctive sirens of responding fire companies...and dismiss them as simply an annoyance," said city Mayor John Tkazyik. "When each and every time the brave" firefighters leave the station, "they risk their lives."

"He served his community with pride and distinction and for that, we commend him," Tkazyik said. "To his family, you have a great reason to be proud."

The fire department, with permission from Gunther's family, will give him a funeral with full honors, as city police did for fallen Detective John Falcone in 2011, Johnson said.

Other firefighters in the county are also in mourning.

"I knew him through photographing fires in Poughkeepsie and the brotherhood of being a firefighter," said Bill Johnson, a Wappingers Falls resident. "He was a great guy and on top of that, he just looked like a firefighter."

Fatal fire

Gunther was assigned to Engine 2 at the time of the fire on Monday.

One occupant of the building, a man who authorities have not publicly identified yet, was found upstairs in a closet. The victim, who apparently died of smoke inhalation, "was pulled from the building by several firefighters" and later pronounced dead at the hospital, Johnson said. The cause of the fire is unknown, but the chief said it doesn't appear to be suspicious.

Besides Gunther, two other firefighters suffered injuries. Both firefighters were treated, one at the scene and one at a hospital.

Johnson speculated the smoke and heat from the first-floor fire rose to the upstairs and may have impaired the man's ability to get around.

"We're not sure how he ended up there, trying to escape, or confused," Johnson said Monday. "There was an extreme amount of smoke and an extreme amount of heat." Smoke is extremely toxic, and "Two or three breaths and you're incapacitated." It's possible the man was disoriented and may have mistaken the closet for an exit, he said.

Community mourns

Social media was flooded with condolence messages — from residents, local fire departments and others — after news came of Gunther's death.

Flags on all Dutchess County Government buildings were lowered to half staff on Tuesday.

Via statement, County Executive Marc Molinaro praised Gunther and the city fire department.

"We are grateful for his dedication and service, and are inspired by the courage and sacrifice made by all firefighters who answer the call to protect our lives, our homes and our communities," Molinaro said. "We are reminded, today, of the extreme risk these men and women take every day and are ever more grateful for those Bravest throughout our community."

Gunther was past chairman of the Beekman board of ethics, confirmed Town Supervisor Barbara Zulauf.

He "was an outstanding resident in the community," Zulauf said.

The Mid-Hudson Bridge was set to be lit in red Tuesday night, in honor of Gunther's "heroic service," the New York State Bridge Authority announced via Facebook.

"May you rest in peace hero," wrote Hudson Valley Guns and Hoses, a non-profit that raises money to support charities for firefighters and law enforcement agencies. "We'll take it from here."

Nina Schutzman: nschutzman@poughkeepsiejournal.com, 845-451-4518 Twitter: @pojonschutzman

Statements

"Our prayers and condolences are with City of Poughkeepsie Firefighter Timothy Gunther's family. We mourn this tragic loss with you and extend our thoughts and prayers to the City of Poughkeepsie Fire Department and City of Poughkeepsie community. We are grateful for his dedication and service, and are inspired by the courage and sacrifice made by all firefighters who answer the call to protect our lives, our homes and our communities. We are reminded, today, of the extreme risk these men and women take every day and are ever more grateful for those Bravest throughout our community."

— Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro

"It is all too often that we hear the distinctive sirens of responding fire companies...and dismiss them as simply an annoyance. When each and every time the brave" firefighters leave the station, "they risk their lives. He served his community with pride and distinction and for that, we commend him. To his family, you have a great reason to be proud."

— Mayor John Tkazyik

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