The firefighting community is in mourning following the passing of IAFF President Jimmy O’Toole.
A firefighter since 2001, O’Toole was diagnosed with cancer in 2018.
As a union leader he helped to drive the effort to establish presumptive coverage in Newfoundland and Labrador for 11 types of occupational cancer.
O’Toole served as a union leader for more than a decade and sat on the IAFF’s Occupational Health and Safety Committee.
O’Toole is survived by his wife Crystal and two sons.
Funeral arrangements have yet to be announced.
Firefighters are devastated by O’Toole’s loss.
Past President of the St. John’s Firefighters Association and a member of IAFF Local 1075, Craig Smith says O’Toole was a champion for firefighters and he was always there for his fellow first responders.
“The days that I couldn’t pull up my socks, Jimmy bent over and pulled them up for me” Smith told VOCM Open Line while choking back tears. “The work Jimmy did, it was at a high level….he just didn’t do it for his local, he did it for every firefighter in the province, every volunteer…he did it for every firefighter across this country…and all through North America.”
Smith says he could “write a book” on the type of person O’Toole was.
“Jimmy was loved,” Craig says, “if you met him, you felt very comfortable in his presence, you felt like you knew him forever. He was professional, he was intellectual, he was an advocate, he was a fun person, he was a social person, I mean I can go on and on.”
