The volunteer Burlington firefigher who died Thursday from complications after a medical emergency two days after a New Hartford blaze that took down a historic building was a Bristol resident. 

Colin McFadden, 26, not only volunteered in Burlington as a firefigher and EMT, but he was also a presence with the City of Bristol Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). 

He could often be seen in his neon CERT vest at Farms to Families distribution events, directing traffic at the Covid test site downtown, and at the school lunch distribution sites in the early months of the pandemic.

Harley Graime, Emergency Management Director for the City of Bristol, who oversees CERT, said Colin was a very personable young man who loved being part of the Burlington volunteer fire department. 

“We were very lucky to have Colin as a Bristol CERT member. He took care of communications, our radio equipment, and was a great asset.” 

One of Graime’s fondest memories of McFadden is the joy that McFadden took in his red pickup truck, especially how McFadden loved playing with the flashing lights that were installed after he became a volunteer firefighter. 

At one of the early Farms to Families distributions back in May, Graime recalled a snowy day which drew hundreds of vehicles and McFadden directing people with his truck and flashing lights. 

“That was his little baby,” Graime said.

As for McFadden, Graime said, “He saw a problem and he was going to fix it. That was the type of person he was.”

It was at the same Farms to Families distribution that Bristol resident Karen Vibert was in line when her car stalled. She got her car started and was able to move it to the side, when McFadden and another CERT volunteer drove up in his red pickup to assist her. 

“Colin stayed with me the whole time,” Vibert said. He told her, “I will not leave you alone.” Then he went and got her a box of food.  

“He was such a polite young man and a good conversationalist,” Vibert said. “He did not know who I was but was concerned with my well-being and he wasn’t going to leave until the tow truck pulled away.” 

She kept telling him he did not have to stay, but he insisted. 

“He was so sweet,” she said. 

In another event, again last spring, McFadden and his family were involved in planting a replacement tree on the boulevard in honor of a WW I veteran. The original tree had come down in a storm. The replacement tree was donated and planted by the local Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, of which his mother, Lee, is a member. 

Dressed in a gray sweatshirt and masked because of the pandemic, McFadden joined members of his family in rolling the pin oak off the bed of the family truck into its new home.  

According to news reports, McFadden had a medical emergency on the site of the historic New Hartford House fire on Tuesday. Two days later he passed from complications as a previously undiagnosed medical condition was discovered during his treatment.  

In one of the reports, Burlington Volunteer Fire Department Chief Michael Boucher recalled McFadden as responding to all fire calls and ready to jump on the truck as well as being a little quirky, for which he took some ribbing from his fellow volunteer firefighters. 

On Thursday afternoon, Gov. Ned Lamont directed flags be lowered to half-staff to honor McFadden. 

“It is with a heavy heart that we mourn the passing of Burlington Firefighter Colin McFadden, who responded early Tuesday morning to a tragic fire out of a courageous sense of duty and compassion to protect the lives of others,” Lamont said, in a news release. “This is a terrible reminder of the dangers that firefighters put themselves in each time they respond to an emergency. My deepest sympathies go out to his family, friends, and fellow firefighters from the Burlington Volunteer Fire Department.” 

The City of Bristol has offered support for either covering Burlington fire stations or helping during the services, said Mayor Ellen Zoppo-Sassu.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Thursday, Aug. 19, at 11 a.m. at St. Matthew Church, 120 Church Ave. Bristol.

Burial will follow in St. Joseph Cemetery, Bristol. Calling hours will be held on Wednesday, Aug. 18 between 3 and 8 p.m. at Funk Funeral Home, 35 Bellevue Ave., Bristol.