Biographical Info
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Age: 61
Additional Info: Lt. Rich Montoya was only 15 shifts from retirement when he was injured May 14. He was a 30-year veteran of the Denver Fire Department.
Incident Details
Cause of Death: Montoya suffered from cardiac arrest and become trapped in a burning home on May 14. He spent his last week in a drug-induced coma, before his family adhered to his living will, which stipulated that life support be removed after seven days.
Date of Incident: May 14, 2006
Denver Lt. Rich Montoya, 61, remembered
30-year veteran taken off life-support week after cardiac arrest
Copyright 2006 Denver Publishing Company
By JULIE POPPEN
Rocky Mountain News (Denver)
On a hot Sunday afternoon, Denver firefighter Capt. Sal Marini pushed himself atop a coiled hose on the front of a shiny white fire engine parked at Station 9 in north Denver.
If his colleague Lt. Rich Montoya had been there, he might have questioned the wisdom of sitting on a hose. He also might wonder if the hose was wrapped neatly enough, or would check to see that the chrome of the truck truly shined.
Montoya could be “pretty fiery” when he thought someone in the firehouse was slacking off on his prescribed duties, Marini said.
“He was compulsive when he thought things weren’t done right,” recalled Marini, who worked with Montoya at Station 9 for the past six years and played softball with him.
Montoya, 61, died Sunday morning at Denver Health Medical Center after suffering cardiac arrest and becoming trapped in a burning home on May 14. He spent his last week in a drug-induced coma.
Montoya’s family adhered to his living will, which stipulated that life support be removed after seven days. His ventilator was removed Sunday morning, Denver Fire Chief Larry Trujillo said.
Flags were at half-staff at Denver fire stations to honor the 30-year veteran only 15 shifts shy of retirement.
“Until the very last minute we were holding out hope that something good would happen,” Marini said.
Marini, who played with Montoya on the Denver firefighters’ over-50 softball team, described his teammate as “ultra-competitive.”
Marini first met Montoya when the two played on the same basketball team and remembers Montoya’s reaction when Marini messed up a play.
“He yelled at me,” Marini said. “But I realized it wasn’t personal. He hated to lose no matter what.”
In the predawn hours of May 14, Montoya led a crew of firefighters to the attic of a burning house in the 4300 block of Thompson Court. In the heavy smoke, he went into a bedroom instead of down a flight of stairs with the rest of the crew to escape the intense heat.
A firefighter found Montoya under a mattress and carried him outside. Montoya wasn’t breathing.
Doctors said previously they didn’t know why Montoya, who was in top physical shape from a rigorous exercise regimen, suffered cardiac arrest.
Fire department spokesman Lt. Phil Champagne said it is unknown whether Montoya suffered cardiac arrest then became trapped or if the smoke and heat caused the cardiac arrest. He was not burned in the fire, Champagne said.
While hospitalized, Montoya developed pneumonia, doctors said.
“It’s a very somber day for us,” Trujillo said at a news conference in front of the fallen firefighters’ memorial at the department’s headquarters at West Colfax Avenue and Speer Boulevard. “It’s like losing a brother or a sister.”
Montoya’s family issued a statement thanking hospital staff, the fire department and community for their thoughts, prayers and support.
“The Montoyas will persevere (during) these difficult days due to the strength of the family,” the statement read.
Trujillo said the family expressed gladness that no one else was killed in the fire.
“He wouldn’t have been able to live with himself in retirement if it had happened to one of his crew,” Trujillo said.
Montoya’s stepson Eric Carrasco, also a Denver firefighter, previously said his father looked forward to retirement so he could play more golf and spend more time with his four grandchildren.
But Marini, himself nearing retirement, said Montoya had mixed feelings about leaving.
“I think he was going to really miss the action and really miss the camaraderie,” Marini said.
Raquel Gutierrez, 16, who lived in the house at 4306 Thompson Court and was also injured in the fire, was listed in fair condition Sunday at University Hospital.
The fire may have been sparked by a candle, but the investigation is continuing.
Donations are being accepted by the Richard P. Montoya Memorial Fund at any local 1st Bank. Services have not been finalized.
Montoya was injured just days after Denver firefighter Billy Green, 35, collapsed inside a burning house. Green was hospitalized in critical condition but made a quick recovery. Authorities are continuing to investigate whether mechanical failure in his breathing apparatus was to blame.
Denver firefighters suffered 828 on-the-job injuries the past two years - an average of more than one a day - but the vast majority of those were minor.
The last Denver firefighter to die fighting a fire was Mark W. Langvardt, 39, in September 1992. The fire was deliberately set in a printing office. Jody Aguirre was convicted of murder and arson in January 1993 for arranging the fire.