A veteran Portland firefighter died in an off-duty boating accident on Friday near Cushing Island, the Fire Department reported Saturday afternoon.
Timothy Flynn, 58, died after the incident, according to Capt. John Brennan.
Timothy Flynn Portland Fire Department
“Tim was one of our most respected and beloved firefighters,” said Portland Fire Chief Keith Gautreau in a statement. “The tremendous void caused by this tragic loss will be felt for a long time in our department and with his family and friends on Peaks Island.”
On Friday at about 12:40 p.m., the U.S. Coast Guard responded to the Cushing Island area for a “reported unmanned vessel adrift,” Brennan said in a news release.
Fynn was “located in the water approximately 500 feet from his boat. Life saving measures were immediately performed initially by civilians on private vessels and then by members of the U.S. Coast Guard and Portland firefighters aboard Marine 1.”
Private boats had responded to the area after hearing a report of an abandoned boat by the Casco Bay Lines ferry service.
Flynn was transported to Maine Medical Center in Portland. “Despite the tireless and courageous efforts of all involved, Flynn was unable to be revived,” Brennan said.
Flynn was the most senior firefighter in the Portland Fire Department, having started with the department in November 1986, and the Flynn family has a long history in the fire department going back several decades, according to the news release.
The Portland Professional Fire Fighter’s Union Local 740 posted a tribute on its Facebook page on Saturday, saying that “it is with profound sadness” that it “announced the passing of active duty Firefighter Timothy Flynn.”
“Rest in Peace Brother Flynn,” according to the post. Condolences poured in on the Facebook page from friends and other firefighters all over Maine and New England, calling Flynn a “true gentleman” and devoted to the fire department.
Flynn “spent many years serving on Ladder Co. 1 out of the Munjoy Hill station before assuming his current position as the pilot on Marine 1,” Brennan said.
Flynn was a lifelong resident of Peaks Island, where he served as an island firefighter while off duty.
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