| Chief Brennan’s funeral arrangements are as follows: Wake: Funeral: |
It is with great sadness that Fire Engineering announces the loss of its former editor and technical editor Tom Brennan at the age of 65.
Tom Brennan was born in 1940 in Brooklyn, New York. He was a third-generation Fire Department of New York (FDNY) firefighter--his father and grandfather were FDNY firefighters. His grandfather was killed in the line of duty in a gas explosion in 1920. His father, who retired after 35 years of service in FDNY, was up to that time the most decorated firefighter in the department
Brennan answered the call to promote fire service education nationally in 1983, when he accepted the position of editor of Fire Engineering. He used his intelligence; personality; ability to “turn a phrase"; and authentic, intense love for the fire service to sustain Fire Engineering’s prominence in the industry.
“Tommy found Fire Engineering when it was struggling, and he breathed life into it and gave it all he could,” noted Fire Engineering Editor in Chief and close personal friend Bobby Halton. “He was like Henry Ford .. Tommy didn’t care if your idea was perfect. He cared because you had an idea, and solutions are always good somewhere. He would say, ‘Hell, try something; stand up and try something. The worst failures are the comfortable ones. Keep doing what you’re good at. That will get you far. Keep building one car at a time.’”
Full Story: Fire Engineering and the Nation’s Fire Service Mourns The Loss of Tom Brennan