On January 3rd. 2008 while fighting a fire on the 14th. floor
in the Ebbits Field Houses, John made the ultimate sacrifice,
giving his life in the line of duty.
The raging Brooklyn fire that killed the FDNY officer started
when a young boy ignited wrapping paper on a stovetop flame the
family was using for heat - and then hid the burning debris
under his bed. That set off a chaotic chain of events,
culminating in the death of Lt. John Martinson, 40, an adored
14-year FDNY veteran, father of John Patrick and Katherine
Grace, loving husband of Jessica.
"John Martinson went in first - always," Capt. Thomas Reilly
said while surrounded by 60 firefighters outside Engine 249,
Ladder 113 in Crown Heights. "He led by example in every aspect
of his life."
John was in the first unit of about 100 firefighters who
responded to the 14th-floor blaze at 1700 Bedford Ave. A short
time earlier, one of the twin 6-year-old boys in apartment 14M
torched a piece of wrapping paper with an open flame on the
stovetop, which was being used for heat. He ran to his bedroom
and stuck the paper under the bed, leaving a trail of embers his
mom followed to the spreading fire. She tried but failed to
douse it with water. Fire and smoke filled the 125-foot hallway,
impeding the first responders' path to the apartment.
After fighting their way through the smoke into the apartment,
the Bravest began to battle the blaze head on. But the smoke and
heat became overwhelming and the firefighters, who were losing
air, had to retreat. "It looks like the whole company was
running out of air," a FDNY source said. "Everyone else got out,
but [Martinson] didn't.".
Martinson was found unconscious by two firefighters 10 to 12
feet inside the apartment, and died of burns and smoke
inhalation at Kings County Hospital, according to the Medical
Examiner's Office.
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