1 Year Later, Fallen Firefighter Remembered

“Rico was a hero.”

With those words, New Haven Fire Department Capt. Kendall Richardson remembered his former Dixwell station colleague Ricardo Torres Jr., at a ceremony held on the one-year anniversary of a Valley Street fire that took Torres’s life.

The ceremony was held Thursday morning outside of Dixwell Station, Engine 6 at 125 Goffe St. 

Over 100 family members, friends, and local firefighters attended the event to commemorate the life of Torres, who died in the line of duty on May 12, 2021 while responding to an overnight fire at 190 Valley St.

Thursday also saw the release of a one-page press release by the state police with a few details from their year-long investigation into the Valley Street fire, which also saw the serious injury of Lt. Samod Rankins in addition to the line-of-duty death of Torres. (See below for more on that state police press release.)

To honor Torres’s life and service to the city on Thursday, Fire Chief John Alston, Asst. Chief Justin McCarthy, Dixwell Station Commanding Officer Richardson, and others unveiled a number of memorials to the late 30-year-old firefighter and New Haven native.

Those included a new granite bench that now stands on the brick walkway outside of the fire station, and that is inscribed with the words: 

Ricardo Torres Jr.
Engine 6 
Last Alarm
Box 1501
May 12, 2021

They also include a plaque with Torres’s name and picture, as well as his framed NHFD uniform jacket.

“We know that energy cannot be destroyed,” Alston said through tears as he addressed the crowd at Thursday’s ceremony. ​“It can be shared. It can be regenerated. But it cannot be destroyed.”

He said that Torres was best known to his colleagues for being a whirlwind of energy. If the average person’s body could light a light bulb, he said, Torres ​“could light a stadium.”

Richardson agreed. He said that Torres was known by different names during his time at Dixwell Station: Rico. Wrangler. Tornado.

He was ​“passionate, energetic, enthusiastic, goal-oriented, aggressive, talented,” Ricardson said. But, most of all, he was a ​“hero. … He had a passion to help people. He had skills.”

“Rico wanted to be a New Haven firefighter and he wanted to work at Dixwell Station,” NHFD Lt. William Riggott said. He realized that lifelong dream, he said, and served the city and its residents heroically.

“We will always carry Ricardo Torres, Jr. in our hearts,” McCarthy said after the ceremony. ​“We’ll always carry his memory.” He said the department will always be there for Torres’s family — including his mom and widow and young children, who were all at Thursday’s event.

What the bench and the other memorials accomplish, he said, is that they let every future visitor and firefighter at the Dixwell station know that: ​“Ricardo Torres was here. He worked out of this firehouse. He devoted his life to the citizens of this city. And in turn gave his life for the citizens of this city.”

State Police Investigation Complete

On Thursday morning, the Connecticut State Police Fire and Explosion Investigation Unit released the following one-page press release about its year-long investigation into the May 12, 2021 Valley Street fire that took the life of Torres.

Alston said that the National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health (NIOSH) is still working on its investigation of Torres’s line-of-duty death. He said NIOSH should release their findings on the matter within the next 45 to 60 days.

Click here, or see below, read the state police’s Thursday press release in full.

The Connecticut State Police Fire and Explosion Investigation Unit has concluded the investigation of a residential structure fire that occurred on 05/12/2021 at 190 Valley Street in the City of New Haven that resulted in the Line of Duty Death of New Haven Firefighter Riccardo Torres, Jr.

On 05/12/2021 at approximately 0044 hours, the New Haven Public Safety Telecommunication Center received the first of three ​“911” calls reporting a fire at 190 Valley Street in the City of New Haven. The New Haven Fire Department was dispatched to the working structure fire and was soon notified that there was a party entrapped within the building. Through the heroic efforts of the responding New Haven Firefighters and Police Officers, an elderly female occupant was rescued from the first floor of the two family residence. Conditions within the structure rapidly deteriorated as firefighters attacked the fire. During the fire suppression efforts, Firefighter Ricardo Torres Jr. initiated radio transmissions that indicated he was under duress. An immediate rescue effort was initiated and Firefighter Torres was pulled from the second floor of the structure but was unresponsive, and later pronounced deceased after being transport by ambulance to Yale New Haven Hospital. Lieutenant Samod Rankins was also rescued from the structure and sustained serious injuries requiring a lengthy recovery.

The fire origin and cause investigation determined that the fire originated in the basement of the structure and spread to the first and second floors causing severe fire and collapse damage. Due to the extent of damage and lack of physical evidence, the cause of the fire was not able to be determined. There is no criminal aspect.