Fireman Who 'Pushed To Be Better' is Mourned; Probie Died During Training

Shortly before he died during routine training at the Fire Academy Nov. 11, Probationary Firefighter Jamel Sears found what he thought would be the perfect workplace: Engine Company 218 in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn.

The Chief-Leader/Michel Friang THE 'PERFECT PROBIE': The widow of Probationary Firefighter Jamel Sears, Sherita, receives her husband's helmet after a funeral Nov. 18 in Harlem. Members of his class said that Mr. Sears, who collapsed and died while doing routine training at the Fire Academy Nov. 11, possessed natural leadership abilities.

The Bronx native and U.S. Navy veteran was at first nervous about training there. But over time, he grew closer to the company.

'He Figured Out the Culture'

"Flip through the journal he kept and you'll find every page scribbled with notes about the emergency runs that he went on, like the senior citizen who fell in the bathroom or the kitchen fire started by food left on a stove," Mayor Bloomberg said in his eulogy Nov. 18 at the Bethel Gospel Assembly Church in Harlem. "The pages were filled with artwork and other mementos from his time at the firehouse. He enjoyed it so much that at the end of the week, Jamel told his instructors at the academy that he hoped to one day be permanently assigned to Engine 218."

JAMEL SEARS

It was in that time, Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta said, that he exhibited the traits of the "perfect probie," someone who stayed late to absorb the knowledge of the firefighters and seek out extra help.

"He quickly figured out the firehouse culture," he said. But that was also when Mr. Sears made an admission of weakness that the Commissioner said would have proved troublesome once he was assigned to a fire company.

"He said he wasn't much of a cook," Commissioner Scoppetta said to chuckles from the crowd of academy cadets and other Fire Department members.

Probationary Firefighter Sears collapsed while participating in firefighting simulation, and despite cadets' attempts to revive him, he died at Mt. Sinai Hospital. An investigation into the exact cause of death is pending.

Served on a Submarine

Mr. Sears, who was appointed to the FDNY on June 1, had many different roles in his life, which ended at 33. He worked as a street vendor on 125th St. in Harlem alongside his cousin, Lhegend Carter, who joined the Navy with him in 1995. Since leaving the armed forces in 1999, where he served aboard the U.S.S. Alaska, a submarine, he worked as a customer representative at TD Waterhouse and as an operating mechanic at Keyspan Energy.

Chris Webb, who worked with Probationary Firefighter Sears at Keyspan, said he would be seen in the work locker room calling his children to make sure they were doing their homework. But he would also find spare time to read books and learn new things. Joining the FDNY, Mr. Webb said, seemed like a natural progression for Mr. Sears.

"He was always talking about improving himself," he said.

He noted that Mr. Sears had a spirit which helped guide and teach those around him.

"I'm older than Jamel," he said. "I learned a lot from Jamel."

'He Loved the Challenge'

Mayor Bloomberg echoed the sentiment, saying "Everybody said he loved the challenge. He was always pushing himself to be quicker and stronger and sharper, and he always had the belief that he could be."

Probationary Firefighter Sears's mother is a former Housing Authority worker. He is also survived by his wife Sherita, a Police Officer assigned to the 41st Precinct in The Bronx who had previously served in the Department of Correction, and a son, Mahlek, 12, and a daughter, Jya, 8.

One Probationary Firefighter who quickly became friends with Mr. Sears in the Academy said he instantly emerged as a leader among the students, becoming the de facto "lieutenant" in the group of four students they called "the Council."

"He had an old man's wisdom and a young man's energy," he said.