The city’s fire commissioner along with FDNY firefighters gathered alongside the family of firefighter William P. Moon II for a bunting ceremony Sunday.
The purple and black memorial adorns the front of the Rescue 2 in Brownsville, where the 47-year-old veteran firefighter suffered a tragic accident last week.
Officials announced a few days later that Moon would not survive from his injuries.
“I would say that we’ve lost the perfect human being. Billy was a selfless warrior who gave the gift of life in this life,” said Captain Liam Flaherty, the commanding officer of the Rescue 2.
Moon was a 21-year veteran with the FDNY.
He spent a majority of his career working at Ladder Company 133 in Jamaica, Queens.
Earlier this year, he was reassigned to Rescue 2, which is known among the FDNY as an elite unit. The members there are trained specifically to respond to more difficult emergencies.
“Everybody here is handpicked, very experienced members. I try to pick the best of the best,” said Captain Flaherty to reporters after the ceremony. “Billy was highly recruited. I had my eye on him for a long time.”
Officials say on Monday, the firefighter was preparing for a special training when he fell from a height of about 20-feet.
“If you’re having the worst day of your life, you would want Billy Moon riding on that fire truck over there,” said Captain Flaherty. “If I was trapped in a burning building or in collapse, I would want Billy [to] come for me.”
Moon is currently being cared for as an organ donor at the LiveOnNY Donor Care Unit at NYU Langone.
“We give up our lives for others and that’s that’s an oath we take when we come on the fire department. And Billy lived that even into the afterlife,” said Captain Flaherty.
He will be survived by his wife Kristina, his 10-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son.
“Loving Billy was not only a marriage of families, but a marriage to the Fire Department. His love and passion for the job extended far from the firehouse walls. He instilled that same passion in our children and always talked about how important it was to help others,” Kristian Moon said in a statement. “We are eternally grateful for the Christmas miracles that Billy will now be able to give to others.”
“Like the saying goes, ‘Behind every great firefighter is a great family.’ And the Moon family is astounding, and the focus right now for us as a firehouse is to make sure that we take care of them now and forever,” said Captain Flaherty.