The funeral service for Michael R. Davidson, the FDNY firefighter who died early Friday while battling a blaze at a former Harlem jazz club that was being used as a movie location, is slated to take place Tuesday morning at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
Davidson, 37, was a 15-year veteran of the FDNY and a member of Engine Company 69, the first to arrive at the scene of the five-alarm fire at 773 St. Nicholas Ave. near 149th St.
Officials said Davidson was operating the fire hose nozzle when he became separated from other firefighters as they began retreating when conditions in the building worsened. He was found unconscious and later died at Harlem Hospital.
On Monday, the city’s medical examiner determined that Davidson died from smoke inhalation, ABC7 reported.
The fire is believed to have started in the basement, where a boiler had been worked on Wednesday, the day before the blaze.
The first floor of the five-story building was the site of the former St. Nick Pub, a longtime jazz club that closed in 2011. It had sat vacant until recently, when it began being used as a set location for “Motherless Brooklyn,” a 1950s-set film directed by and starring Edward Norton.
Filming was wrapping up late Thursday night in the pub when an assistant director smelled smoke, Norton wrote on Instagram. The crew was evacuated and they began moving their vehicles and equipment so the FDNY could access the building.
“I have never witnessed firsthand that kind of bravery. I’m in awe of that kind of selfless courage,” Norton wrote. “It’s devastating to contemplate that one of the men we watched charging in there lost his life.”
On Saturday, Mayor Bill de Blasio and FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro posthumously promoted Davidson to lieutenant. A member of the department since 2003, Davidson had been cited for bravery four times and is the 1,150th FDNY firefighter to die in the line of duty, officials said.
Wake services for Davidson began Sunday afternoon and were set to continue Monday from 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. at Thomas F. Dalton Funeral Home (29 Atlantic Ave., Floral Park, Long Island).
Davidson’s funeral mass will begin at St. Patrick’s at 10 a.m. Tuesday. He is survived by his wife, Eileen, and four children: Brooke, 7, Joseph, 6, Emily, 3, and Amy, 1.
Davidson’s brother, Eric, is an 11-year veteran of Engine Company 88 in the Bronx, and his father, Robert, retired from the department after 26 years of primarily working at Engine Company 69, the FDNY said on Facebook.
The streets near the site of the fire at 773 St. Nicholas Ave. remain blocked off, and the building is slated to be demolished soon so investigators can determine the exact cause and why Davidson became separated from other firefighters, ABC7 reported.