Daniel and Dorothy Thomas raised six children, but his wife says her husband always had a "seventh baby." "My husband was dedicated to the (Niagara Falls) fire department and the Firefighters Fund Toy," she said. "We raised six, but the fire department, that was his seventh baby."
On Friday afternoon, the fire department re-paid that commitment by dedicating its newest piece of apparatus, Rescue 1, to the late Fire Capt. Daniel Thomas. On the side of the fire truck are the words: "Dedicated to Captain Daniel Thomas. Who Answered His Last Alarm On September 22, 2013."
"It was a sad day when retired Fire Captain Daniel Thomas passed away," Falls Fire Chief Tom Colangelo said. "He was a dedicated shinning example of how you should serve your career on the fire department."
Thomas was also the department's first African-American firefighter, coming on-board in 1952.