Firefighter Remembered

Obituary here: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/mycentraljersey/obituary.aspx?n=bruce-alan-turcotte&pid=155565850

Bruce Turcotte believed in lending others a helping hand.

For Ellen Ye, owner of Fords Flower Shop in the Fords section, where Turcotte worked as a deliveryman, that meant driving her to Brooklyn, N.Y., where her daughter underwent special medical tests.

"He always helped us. He was like a friend or family," she said.

For Janice McKeithan, Fords Flower Shop manager, it meant helping a Perth Amboy florist carry an arrangements into Mitruska Funeral Home in Fords early Thursday morning and place it on a casket.

"Bruce would help anybody," she said. "He was easy to work with. We were a team. I could call Bruce at any time."

And for William Hegedus, Hopelawn Engine Co. 1 second lieutenant, it meant helping to relocate a large-diameter hose to make room for additional apparatus to bring to the fire scene, when, as a driver, Turcotte was only supposed to drive the fire engine to the burning house in the Menlo Park Terrace section on Thursday afternoon.

"He stretched the hose line to help guys. We had a full crew. He stepped up to help," Hegedus said. "He loved this job."

And it was after stretching those hoses that Turcotte, 58, of Fords, the senior man in the Hopelawn firehouse with 38 years of experience, collapsed and later died at JFK Medical Center in Edison.

On Friday, the yellow fire engine Turcotte drove was draped with a black and purple bunting with a sign that read "In memory of a fallen hero," as a table in front of the truck was covered with flowers, a flag, candles, a firefighter's helmet and a photo of Turcotte, with another sign reading "In loving memory of Firefighter Bruce Turcotte."

A line-of-duty-death funeral is scheduled for 10 a.m. Wednesday from Mitruska Funeral Home, 531 New Brunswick Ave., Fords followed by a 10:30 a.m. Mass at Our Lady of Peace R.C. Church in Fords.

Turcotte was one of two people to die in connection with the fire. The other victim has been identified as Robert Nass, 56, of 33 Jefferson St., in the Menlo Park Terrace section, the location of the fire.

The fire was intentionally set in the basement by Nass, who was killed in the blaze, according to the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office. An autopsy by the Middlesex County Medical Examiner's Office determined that Nass died from smoke inhalation.

The house, which Nass inherited from his sister a few years ago, was in foreclosure. Nass' girlfriend, Maria Gauntt, who was at the fire scene after stopping by to bring Nass lunch, recently moved out because the home was in the process of being sold in a sheriff's sale. She said Nass did not want to leave the home

"He was such a nice man," Gauntt said. "He doesn't have any more family. He lost his job. He hurt his arm and was on disability."

Around the Loretta Street firehouse, Turcotte, a former chief of Hopelawn Engine Co. 1, was known as the go-to guy.

"He was like our encyclopedia for everything we needed to know," said Brian Turcotte, Bruce's son, who serves as assistant chief of Hopelawn Engine Co. 1, adding that his father kept all the fire company's paperwork up to date. "It is going to take the work of 10 men to accomplish the things he was able to do for the fire company."

"If you needed something done, he did it," said Hegedus, who considered Turcotte like a second father because he was his father's good friend. "He was always on the rig. He volunteered full time. Every call, he was here. This was his hobby, his passion."

As a Woodbridge Township Mutual Aid fire coordinator, Turcotte would go to other fires in town to help out.

"He'd help all Woodbridge," Hegedus said.

Barry Berman, owner of Fords Jewelers on New Brunswick Avenue, said he has known Turcotte for 40 years.

"He was an awesome guy. We all knew him," Berman said.

Albert Dahl, store manager, said Turcotte was polite with an outgoing attitude and would always say hi.

"Everybody knew him," said Debra Saparito, who also works at Fords Jewelers, adding that she would talk to Turcotte nearly every morning at the Colonial restaurant on New Brunswick Avenue, where he would stop for coffee or breakfast. "He was a very nice man."

A former boiler operator at the Hess Oil Refinery in the Port Reading section, Turcotte was a member, past president and former chief of Hopelawn Engine Co. 1 and served as company secretary, chaplain and historian. He also was a member of the Woodbridge Township Fire Officer's Association, serving on the executive board.

Turcotte is the first Woodbridge Township firefighter to die in the line of duty in recent memory, officials said.

"My father was an exceptional family man. He would always be the one to light up a room with his, sometimes twisted, sense of humor," said Brian Turcotte, adding that the family would always get a laugh when his father re-gifted the freebies from the Mount Airy Casino near the family's trailer and give them as gag gifts.

Turcotte is survived by his wife of 37 years, Janet, sons Michael (and his fiancee, Becky Briggs) and Brian (and his girlfriend, Nicole Nowakowski) daughter Catherine (and her husband, Robert Keene) and brother Robert.

Visitation will be from 7 to 9 p.m. Monday and 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday at the Mitruska Funeral Home, 531 New Brunswick Ave., Fords.

Hopelawn Engine Co. 1, along with the Woodbridge Township Fire Officers and United Exempt associations, will conduct services at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Interment will be at Cloverleaf Memorial Park Cemetery in Woodbridge.

The investigation into the fire is continuing. Anyone with information is asked to call Investigator Todd O'Malley of the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office at 732-745-3300 or the Woodbridge Police Department at 732-634-7700