A hero FDNY firefighter who once rescued a victim in a wheelchair from a burning building died after falling off his motorcycle on the FDR Drive and being struck by a driver who did not remain at the scene, police said.
Matthew Goicochea was riding his 2023 Yamaha motorcycle uptown on the parkway when he wiped out near E. 9th St. about 3:45 a.m. cops said.
After falling off his motorcycle he was struck by a driver who did not remain at the scene. Investigators are unsure if the driver knew they struck someone and do not yet have a vehicle description. The driver has not been found.
Medics rushed Goicochea to Bellevue Hospital, where he died.
“We lost a true hero,” Deputy Mayor Kaz Daughtry posted on X. “His dedication to serving and protecting New Yorkers, including his heroic rescue of a fire victim in the Bronx that earned him the Thomas Wylie Medal last year, exemplifies the selflessness and courage that define all of New York’s Bravest.”
Goicochea joined the FDNY in September 2022, serving with Ladder Company 41 in the Bronx.
In August 2023, Goicochea‘s company was the first to respond to a 911 call about a fire engulfing a six-story building in Morris Park. Goicochea and another firefighter forced open the door of an apartment on the fourth floor, where the fire had started. After exhausting his water supply attempting to extinguish the fire, Goicochea started searching for victims.
”In blinding visibility, he came across an unconscious victim in a rear bedroom,” according to an FDNY report describing his act of heroism. “Realizing the victim was entangled in a wheelchair, [Goicochea] worked to quickly begin untangling the victim. With conditions in the fire apartment rapidly worsening and no hoseline yet in place, [Goicochea] made his move past the now extending fire while shielding the victim with his body.”
Goicochea carried the victim into the hallway and his fellow firefighters then helped him carry the victim down the stairs and out of the building.
”At great personal risk [Goicochea]’s quick and decisive actions led to the rescue, removal and prompt emergency medical care of this victim,” the FDNY report says.
Goicochea lived in Throgs Neck.
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