The nine-alarm fire, which spread quickly because of wind gusts of nearly 45 mph, took the lives of Lt. Edward J. Walsh Jr. and Firefighter Michael R. Kennedy, who became trapped in the basement of the Beacon Street apartment building.
\"I feel so badly for the families of the two firefighters that were lost and obviously all the men that were fighting that fire yesterday losing their close friends,\" Brady said.
\"We as athletes think we're heroes, but when you witness firsthand what we saw yesterday, you realize who the real heroes are in this world. It's the people that work hard to protect our lives and protect our safety ... certainly the firefighters and Boston police and the state troopers. I just want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart.\"
Brady described the scene near his home, saying he watched from his balcony as the fire spread. He eventually took his family to a friend's home as a precaution.
\"At one point, I saw a pretty big explosion of flames and a lot of the firemen were coming out of the building, and that's when I really got nervous,\" Brady said. \"Our lives were never in jeopardy at all thanks to those brave men fighting that fire for us.
\"It was a very intense day of weather and wind. You just can't imagine all those things that really happened, how quickly those things can get out of control. I have a newfound respect for nature and what it's all about, and under those conditions for those men to try to put out the fire in freezing conditions and all the different elements they had to deal with. There's no way to prepare for things like that.\"
The blaze left 13 other firefighters injured and engulfed the neighborhood in black smoke.
\"Those firemen, they're in our thoughts and prayers all day,\" Brady said. \"Without them it could have been a very tragic day for not only the houses in the neighborhood but the lives of the people they kept safe.\"
","publishedDate":"2014-03-27T17:12:40Z","contributors":[{"name":"ABC News","url":"","role":"","logo":"","logoAlt":""}],"authorsStr":"ABC News","modifiedDate":"2014-03-27T18:09:14Z","section":"Sports","wordCount":516,"relatedTags":{"heading":"Related Topics","tags":[]},"lead":{"ratio":"16x9","disableForMobile":false,"type":"xl","mediaType":"image","alignCaptionToBody":true},"ads":{"Sticky":{"kvps":{"test":true}},"RightRail":{"kvps":{"test":true}},"InlineBox":{},"InlineOutstream":{"disabled":false},"Taboola":{"position":"bottom","pageType":"article","config":{"network":"abcnews-abcnews","mode":"thumbnails-a","container":"taboola-below-article-thumbnails","type":"article","targetType":"mix","placement":"Below Article Thumbnails"}}},"featuredVideo":null,"featuredImage":{},"dateline":"","seo":{},"LivePromotion":{},"isShared":false},"autoUpdate":{"enabled":false,"topics":["general-elections-2020-balance-of-power"]}},"upw":{"balanceOfPower":{"electoral":{"header":"Biden Projected to be President-Elect","winningParty":"democrats","candidates":{"democrats":{"id":1036,"displayName":"Joe Biden","shortDisplayName":"J. Biden","firstName":"Joe","lastName":"Biden","party":"democrats","major":true,"incumbent":false,"winner":true,"votes":306},"republicans":{"id":8639,"displayName":"Donald Trump","shortDisplayName":"D. Trump","firstName":"Donald","lastName":"Trump","party":"republicans","major":true,"incumbent":true,"winner":false,"votes":232},"other":{"displayName":"Other","lastName":"Independent","votes":0}},"parties":{"democrats":"democrats","republicans":"republicans","other":"other"},"type":"electoral","votes":{"democrats":{"available":{},"total":306,"difference":{},"popular":{"displayValue":"81,283,098","value":81283098}},"republicans":{"available":{},"total":232,"difference":{},"popular":{"displayValue":"74,222,958","value":74222958}},"other":{"available":{},"total":0,"popular":{}},"total":538},"needed":{"displayText":"270 to win","displayValue":"270","value":270},"lastUpdated":{"value":"2020-12-18T21:15:13.850Z","displayValue":"December 18, 4:15:13PM ET"},"reporting":"99% of Expected Vote Reporting","rawReporting":"99%","typeDisplay":"President"},"senate":{"header":"Senate Seat Results","winningParty":null,"candidates":{"democrats":{"displayName":"Democrat","icon":"party-democrats","votes":46,"winner":false},"republicans":{"displayName":"Republican","icon":"party-republicans","votes":50,"winner":false},"other":{"displayName":"Other","lastName":"Independent","votes":2}},"parties":{"democrats":"democrats","republicans":"republicans","other":"other"},"type":"senate","votes":{"democrats":{"available":{"displayText":"12 Democrats up for election","shortDisplayText":"12 Dems. up for election","displayValue":"12","value":12},"total":46,"difference":{"displayText":"Gained 1 seat","displayValue":"1","value":1},"popular":{}},"republicans":{"available":{"displayText":"23 Republicans up for election","shortDisplayText":"23 Reps. up for election","displayValue":"23","value":23},"total":50,"difference":{"displayText":"Lost 1 seat","displayValue":"-1","value":-1},"popular":{}},"other":{"available":{"displayText":"0 Others up for election","shortDisplayText":"0 Others up for election","displayValue":"0","value":0},"total":2,"popular":{}},"total":100},"needed":{"displayText":"51 for control","displayValue":"51","value":51},"lastUpdated":{"value":"2020-12-17T18:22:05.390Z","displayValue":"December 17, 1:22:05PM ET"},"typeDisplay":"Senate"},"house":{"header":"House Results: Dems Retain Control","winningParty":"democrats","candidates":{"democrats":{"displayName":"Democrat","icon":"party-democrats","votes":222,"winner":true},"republicans":{"displayName":"Republican","icon":"party-republicans","votes":210,"winner":false},"other":{"displayName":"Other","lastName":"Independent","votes":0}},"parties":{"democrats":"democrats","republicans":"republicans","other":"other"},"type":"house","votes":{"democrats":{"available":{"displayText":"233 Democrats up for election","shortDisplayText":"233 Dems. up for election","displayValue":"233","value":233},"total":222,"difference":{"displayText":"Lost 10 seats","displayValue":"-10","value":-10},"popular":{}},"republicans":{"available":{"displayText":"201 Republicans up for election","shortDisplayText":"201 Reps. up for election","displayValue":"201","value":201},"total":210,"difference":{"displayText":"Gained 10 seats","displayValue":"10","value":10},"popular":{}},"other":{"available":{"displayText":"1 Others up for election","shortDisplayText":"1 Others up for election","displayValue":"1","value":1},"total":0,"popular":{}},"total":435},"needed":{"displayText":"218 for control","displayValue":"218","value":218},"lastUpdated":{"value":"2020-12-17T18:22:02.900Z","displayValue":"December 17, 1:22:02PM ET"},"typeDisplay":"House"},"lastUpdated":{"value":"2020-12-18T21:15:13.850Z","displayValue":"December 18, 4:15:13PM ET"},"autoUpdate":{"enabled":false,"topics":["general-elections-2020-balance-of-power"]},"electionsConfig":{}},"types":["electoral","senate","house"]}},"analytics":{"accountID":"wdgnewabcnews,wdgasec,wdgnewabcnweb,wdgnewabcnewsrollup","ns":"abcnews","pageName":"abcn:sports:story","pageType":"story","pageUrl":"abcnews.go.com/Sports/tom-brady-witnesses-deadly-fire/story?id=23085039","globalSpecVersion":"v1.08","siteDifferentiator":"abcn:site","tagID":"apage_news01","userABCookie":"0","alertTag":"none","authors":"ABC News","authorsBureau":"none","authorsUnit":"none","dateline":"","id":"23085039","modDate":"2014-03-27","mediaOnPage":"image","modTime":"14:09","provider":"ABC News","pubDate":"2014-03-27","pubTime":"13:12","section":"Sports","subBrand":"none","title":"Tom Brady witnesses deadly fire","videoId":"none","videoName":"none","wordCount":516},"taboola":{"config":{"network":"abcnews-abcnews","mode":"thumbnails-a","type":"other","targetType":"mix","placement":null,"pageTypeOverrides":{"story":{"mode":"thumbnails-a","type":"article","targetType":"mix","placement":"Below Article Thumbnails"},"home":{"mode":"thumbnails-b","container":"taboola-homepage-thumbnails","type":"home","targetType":"mix","placement":"Homepage Thumbnails"},"section":{"mode":"thumbnails-b","type":"category","targetType":"mix","placement":"Section Front Thumbnails"},"liveBlog":{"mode":"thumbnails-d","type":"other","targetType":"mix","placement":"Blog"}}}}},"request":{"headers":{},"httpVersion":"1.1","method":"GET","url":"/Sports/tom-brady-witnesses-deadly-fire/story?id=23085039","vary":{"host":"abcnews.go.com","cached":true,"path":"/Sports/tom-brady-witnesses-deadly-fire/story","forwarded-proto":"https","device":"desktop","country":"us","userab":"0","region":"gdpr"}},"viewport":{"width":1260,"height":0},"user":{}};