FIRE COMMISSIONER SALVATORE J. CASSANO APPOINTS
EDWARD S. KILDUFF CHIEF OF DEPARTMENT
Fire Commissioner Salvatore J. Cassano announced the appointment of Edward S. Kilduff as the FDNY’s Chief of Department - the highest-ranking uniformed position in the agency. Chief Kilduff, a 32-year veteran who has served as Brooklyn Borough Commander since August of 2004, will become the 34th Chief of Department in the agency’s 145-year history. His appointment is effective January 12, 2010. He succeeds Commissioner Cassano, who served as Chief of Department for nearly four years prior to being named Fire Commissioner.
As Chief of Department, Chief Kilduff will oversee the Department’s 15,000-member uniformed fire and EMS services, with five major bureaus: Operations, Training, Communications, Emergency Medical Service and Fire Prevention.
“Chief Kilduff is an outstanding fire officer whose steadfast dedication to the Department is exemplary,” said Fire Commissioner Cassano. “He has demonstrated extraordinary leadership both in the field as a chief officer and in helping the Department rebuild in the last eight years, including his work as a key member of our Strategic Planning group and with our nationally recognized Incident Management Team (IMT). With more than three decades of experience and an impressive track record of performance, I’m confident he’ll be an excellent Chief of Department.”
Chief Kilduff serves as an Incident Commander with the FDNY’s IMT group - trained by the federal government in management of large-scale disasters - and helped lead the agency’s response to Louisiana in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, when more than 600 members were deployed to conduct rescue and recovery efforts for the city of New Orleans.
He also was a key member of the senior management team that created the Department’s first two Strategic Plans in 2004-2005 and 2007-2008. These plans served as roadmaps for rebuilding after the Sept. 11 attacks and advanced numerous major agency-wide initiatives. As a deputy chief in 2001, he worked as night commander for months after Sept. 11, supervising FDNY members working on rescue and recovery operations at the World Trade Center site.
As Borough Commander for Brooklyn during the last five years, Chief Kilduff has led the Department’s largest field force with more than 75 units and 2,000 firefighters in the city’s most populous borough.
Chief Kilduff was appointed a New York City firefighter in August of 1977 and worked for six years at Ladder 34 in Manhattan. He was promoted to Lieutenant in 1983 and worked at Ladder 112 in Brooklyn until his 1989 promotion to Captain of Engine 92, in the Bronx. He continued to rise through the ranks as Battalion Chief (1993), Division Chief (2001), Deputy Assistant Chief (2002) and Assistant Chief and Brooklyn Borough Commander (2004).
He has been cited five times for bravery including in October 1988 when he rescued a 51-year-old woman from a burning apartment in Brooklyn, and in June of 1998 when he directed the rescue of five firefighters trapped in a building collapse on Atlantic Avenue, also in Brooklyn. Three members survived the fire and collapse, but two others, Capt. Scott LaPiedra of Ladder 176 and Lt. James Blackmore of Engine 332, succumbed to their injuries.
Chief Kilduff has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Marist College. A lifelong Queens resident, Chief Kilduff and his wife, Kathy, reside in Flushing. They have two adult children, Daniel and Lauren.