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WILMINGTON, DEL. (FOX 29) - Christopher Slutman, a 15-year veteran of FDNY Engine 46 Ladder 27 in the Bronx, was killed Monday night serving with the U.S. Marine Corps in Afghanistan. FOX 29 has learned he had ties to our area. The husband and father of three daughters called Wilmington, Delaware home.
A car bomb detonated near Bagram Airbase where a security convoy was positioned killing Slutman and two other Americans. An Afghan contractor was wounded, officials said. (The death toll was corrected Tuesday by officials to reflect the wounded contractor.)
"He was as efficient as they come. He was a Marine. He was a firefighter. He wanted to be
the best. He wasn't originally a New Yorker, He grew up in Pennsylvania but wanted to be in the best fire department in the world," FDNY-UFA member Bobby Eustace said.
Mayor Bill de Blasio ordered all flags to be flown at half staff remembering when he bestowed the decorated firefighter with a well-deserved medal back in 2014.
"It was presented because he had rescued an unconscious woman from a burning apartment building in the South Bronx. This is unquestionably an example of the measure of this man. Christopher Slutman, an American Hero, and we mourn his loss today," Mayor Bill de Blasio said.
Donations to the Firefighter Christopher Slutman's Children's Education Fund can be made by visiting fdnyfoundation.org/donate and selecting "FF Christopher Slutman's Children's Education Fund" from the drop-down menu.