Brendan Cawley is a firefighter attached to Ladder 27 in the Bronx. He graduated from Archbishop Molloy High School, and in the following years attended college at SUNY Oneonta.
Cawley entered the New York City Fire Academy on September 12, 2004, and graduated from the academy on December 16 of that year. He was injured in an accident while fighting a house fire in the Bronx on January 23, 2005. Two of Cawley’s colleagues lost their lives that day. After a long recovery and rehabilitation from his injuries, he returned to work with the fire department almost three years later, in late 2007. Now he is working once again at Ladder 27 and serving the people of his adopted borough.
Cawley’s parents are Margaret and John cawley, and he has an older sister Kristin. His brother Michael, who was assigned to Ladder 136 in Queens, gave his life for his city and his country at the World Trade Center on 9/11. Following his brother’s death, Cawley set up the Michael Cawley Memorial Foundation, which helps to fund worthy causes like the Mid-Hudson Valley summer Camp for children with disabilities.