By Alexander MacInnes
The Herald News (Passaic County, NJ)
PATERSON, NJ — One of the city's most highly decorated firefighters, Elliot McGuire, who is credited with saving scores of civilians and a number of men under his command, has died.
After a brief fight with pancreatic cancer, Mr. McGuire of Hawthorne died on Saturday. He was 66.
Mr. McGuire, a captain in the city Fire Department, was described by friends and family as a true hero, someone who thrived under intense pressure, and deftly maneuvered through dangerous conditions with second-nature instincts.
During his 34-year-career, Mr. McGuire received more than 12 commendations for his lifesaving work, including a 1993 fire in which he directed his company to evacuate a house seconds before an explosion tore through the building.
"Elliot was a fireman's fireman, definitely," said Capt. Mike Barr, who was with Mr. McGuire at that 1993 blaze. "He had the knowledge. He had experience and he inspired guys by just going to fires with him.
"And going in with younger guys, they were in awe of how he would handle himself inside a building," Barr added.
Born in Passaic and raised in Paterson, Mr. McGuire was the oldest of 11 children and traded one big family for another when he joined the city Fire Department at the age of 22.
The Eastside High School graduate dived passionately into firehouse life, cooking for the men, marching in parades as part of the department's color guard and supporting the families of fallen firefighters.
"He loved everything about firemen and the brotherhood," said Amy Parker, his daughter. "He just truly, truly loved being a fireman. Whenever a fireman was lost, he'd shed a tear. He'd cry for every fallen brother."
Mr. McGuire, who was promoted to captain in 1992, was assigned to Engine 2 in the Riverside section before transferring to Ladder 1 out of Fire Department headquarters on Madison Avenue.
On Sunday, Michael McGorty, president of the Paterson Firefighters Association, read some of McGuire's official employment record. In September 1972, while Mr. McGuire was off duty, he rescued two girls from a fire on Union Avenue.
In 1989, Mr. McGuire rescued a 7-year-old child from a fire on Godwin Avenue. Once outside the building he revived the child by performing CPR. In 1991, he helped rescue five people from a Park Avenue fire.
The save most remembered was when Mr. McGuire helped six men from his company escape danger during a house fire in 1993 on East 23rd Street. According to the official commendation and accounts from those who were there, seven firefighters, including Mr. McGuire, were in a third-floor hallway, battling a fully involved blaze with a hose line.
Capt. Mike D'Arco, who was inside the house at the time, said on Sunday that he was heading upstairs to open a hole in the roof when he heard Mr. McGuire yell for everyone to get out.
Mr. McGuire had heard a rumbling or creaking in the house that indicated an explosion or backdraft was imminent, according to the report. Seconds later, fireballs flew down the hall where the firefighters were standing, McGorty read.
For D'Arco, Mr. McGuire's verbal alert allowed him just enough time to turn around and dive down the stairwell.
"With his yell, it gave me enough time," D'Arco said Sunday. "If it wasn't for his pre-alert to that situation, I would have been stuck up there. I used to call him my savior."
His official employment record underscores the selfless dedication his friends and family remember.
"He was not only a hero as a firefighter, he was a hero outside of that," Parker said.
Mr. McGuire is survived by his wife, Eustina, and four children — Elliot, Andy, Chris and Amy.
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