Mother of fallen firefighter donates $45K for life

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Nearly nine years after Boston firefighter Michael Kennedy and Boston Fire Lt. Edward Walsh died in a massive Back Bay blaze, Kennedy's mother has made a donation that will help protect the city's firefighters.

"When Michael died, I was told his hose never got water in that awful fire," said Kennedy's mother, Kathy Crosby-Bell. "At Michael's graveside, I swore to him that I would fix it."

Crosby-Bell founded the Last Call Foundation in honor of her late son, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who died at the age of 33 on March 26, 2014.

Through the foundation, Crosby-Bell donated $45,000 to the Boston Fire Department for the purchase of new heat-resistant hoses that last longer than traditional ones.

"What would be most important to Michael is that what happened to him never happen to you," she said.

Boston Fire Commissioner Paul Burke said the hoses are a lifeline in blackout conditions.

"With this donation today, we were able to purchase enough of the stronger and heat-resistant hose to put 100 feet on every engine in our department," Burke said.

Crosby-Bell said the new hoses are far better, but they are more expensive. During a news conference Tuesday, she called upon the state to step up and provide them to every fire department in Massachusetts.

"What does it cost if one citizen dies, when they could not be reached because of a failed hose? I know the cost when a firefighter dies," Crosby-Bell said.

Crosby-Bell said she knows her son would want this.

"I think, today, he's as relieved as I am that his friends — the men and women that he worked with — are not going to suffer the same fate he did," she said.

Crosby-Bell said the state should use its budget surplus to provide heat-resistant hoses to every Massachusetts fire department.