WASHINGTON —The U.S fire service is mourning the loss of one of its finest leaders, Hal Bruno, who died Tuesday, age 83.
Bruno served as an active member of the fire service community for more than 60 years as a dedicated volunteer firefighter, advocate, commentator and leader.
He was renowned for his commitment to fire safety initiatives and his compassion for the members of the fire service and their families.
Bruno served as chairman of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation for almost 10 years from 1999, during which time he helped the organization expand services and resources for survivors and supported initiatives to rescue LODDs.
A Chicago native, Bruno enjoyed an illustrious 60-year career in journalism, retiring in 1999 from ABC News — to take the position at the NFFF — where he was political director and host of the weekly talk show, Hal Bruno’s Washington.
He frequently appeared on debate panels and served as moderator of the vice-presidential debate in, among others, the 1992 campaign.
“Politics was his first love. But firefighting was his second passion,” said Glennwood Branche, vice president for operations at the Washington ABC bureau, who added that Bruno’s interest in firefighting and firefighters began “after riding as a kid on fire trucks in Chicago.”
During his early journalism career, Bruno was one of the first journalists on the scene of the Our Lady of the Angels elementary school fire in Chicago on December 1, 1958 in which 92 students and three nuns died.
“His report that the fire spread so quickly because of the open stairwell lead to significant changes in fire safety and building standards and codes,” according to a statement from the NFFF.
Among the numerous awards Bruno received for his dedication to the fire service were the National Fire & Emergency Services Hall of Legends, Legacies and Leaders Award last month and the 2008 CFSI/Motorola Mason Lankford Fire Service Leadership Award in 2008.
He passed away Tuesday evening at the Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, Md., from complications from a fall suffered Friday. He survived by his wife Meg, his sister Barbara and his sons Harold and Daniel, and their wives, Brenda and Susan and four grandchildren.