NORTH HAVEN, Conn. — The North Haven community is mourning after losing a 22-year veteran of the fire department. 46-year-old Matthias Wirtz died while responding to a fire on Quinnipiac Ave on Monday.
The state medical examiner has ruled his cause of death as Hypertensive and Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease.
Now, black bunting sits on the face of the fire department and Gov. Ned Lamont has ordered all flags to be flown at half-staff in his memory.
"Matty was just a genuine person," said Mike Torino, a retired firefighter and Band Manager of the New Haven County Firefighters Emerald Society. "Very caring and giving, willing to help anybody at any time. Whoever needed it, whether he knew them or not."
Torino had gotten to know Wirtz well over the last few years. He affectionately called him, 'Matty'. The two played together in their pipe band, full of firefighters across Connecticut. Matty was their snare drummer.
"If you know anything about the drumline for us, it's made up of three sets of drums. Base drum, snare drum, and tenor drummer, and they're the heartbeat of what we do," Torino said.
The heart of his band members skipped on Monday when they found out Wirtz died in the line of duty. The North Haven Fire Dept. Deputy Chief said he collapsed while outside of the building on the scene. They worked as hard as possible to save him, but he died at Yale New Haven Hospital.
"It's one of those things when you get an early morning call out of the blue, it raises the hair on the back of your neck and you get that news and it's just a straight punch to the chest," Torino said.
Wirtz was a 22-year veteran of the department. He graduated from Notre Dame High School in West Haven. He was also one of the firefighters who responded to New York City on 9/11.
Now, his community is coming together. Fire and police departments all over the state joined in on a procession on Tuesday to guide his body to the medical examiner's office.
"It seemed like every overpass, there were firefighters and police officers standing over there, with their equipment, saluting us, the procession," said Michael Freda, the First Selectman of North Haven.
It's a type of support Fred said is needed for his community right now, as they live in honor of Wirtz.
"We miss him. He will never be forgotten here. And over the next few weeks, I still anticipate tremendous grieving here in North Haven," Freda said.
The North Haven Firefighters Association sent out a statement about Wirtz's death saying:
"The past 2 days have been the most difficult 48 hours in our association’s history. Matt was my friend and our brother, a private person to most, he was one of the kindest and most light-hearted people you could ever meet. His presence inside and out of the firehouse is irreplaceable," said Thomas Haggerty, President of the North Haven Professional Firefighters Association
On Wednesday, another procession will lead Wirtz back home to the North Haven Funeral Home. The arrangements for his services have not yet been announced.
As for the cause of the fire, that's also still under investigation.
Julia LeBlanc is a reporter at FOX61 News. She can be reached at jleblanc@fox61.com Follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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