NEW YORK: A firefighter from the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) died on Thursday after battling a fire on a movie set of actors Bruce Willis and Edward Norton's new movie, Motherless Brooklyn.
The deceased, Michael R. Davidson, who served the FDNY for 15 years, was critically injured while fighting the five-alarm blaze in the basement of an unoccupied residential building, according to US Magazine.
According to a statement posted on the department’s Facebook page, Davidson was transported to Harlem Hospital Center in the city, where he succumbed to his injuries.
“He is the 1,150th member to make the Supreme Sacrifice while serving our city,” the statement read, adding that Davidson was “cited for bravery on four separate occasions.”
The producers of Motherless Brooklyn also condoled the firefighter's death and released a statement of the same.
“Our deepest condolences to the family of Michael R. Davidson,” they told Us Weekly. “A fire broke out tonight in the building where we were shooting our film. Our production was towards the end of our working day and had dozens of people working on site when our crew noticed that smoke was coming into our set and into other parts of the building from below us.
As soon as we noticed smoke coming up into our set, our crew immediately alerted the fire department and began alerting residents of the building even as we evacuated our cast and crew.”
The statement continued, “To our great sorrow, we now know that an NYC firefighter lost his life battling the blaze that grew, and our hearts ache in solidarity with his family. New York City firefighters truly are the bravest in the world.
We watched firsthand with astonishment as they charged into the smoke to make sure all were safely out and then fought to contain the blaze and prevent it from spreading, putting their lives on the line as they do every day. The FDNY are real-life superheroes and have our boundless admiration and gratitude.”
Davidson is survived by his wife, Eileen, and four children.
The building, built nearly a century ago was the location of the iconic St. Nick’s Pub earlier and was closed down permanently in 2011.