Corona firefighter killed on Long Island

An Ozone Park family is faced with the difficult task of getting through the holidays without their son, a Queens firefighter who was killed in a traffic accident in Long Island.
Firefighter David Minerly, 28, was laid to rest on December 6 at St. Mary Gate of Heaven Church.
Minerly, who was assigned to Engine Company 324 in Corona, was off duty on December 2 when he was struck and killed along Route 110 in Melville, Long Island.
&#8220He is missed,” said Nelson Minerly, his father. &#8220This is not just our loss, it's everyone's loss.”
Of his desire to become a firefighter, the elder Minerly said, &#8220He had it in his heart. He was very giving. After he failed the [Fire Department] test the first time, he joined the EMS [Emergency Medical Services], and then he passed the test.”
Minerly, who had aspirations of taking the lieutenant's test, had been battling blazes for three years. He was hit while crossing a street in Melville by a 2003 Hyundai driven by 47-year-old Gerard Ragone, who was treated for minor injuries and released. Ragone was not charged, although his car was taken in for a safety inspection.
The Minerly family said that David, their third son, gave back both on and off the job.
&#8220He participated in charity runs and had been tested to be a bone marrow donor,” said Minerly, who noted that more than 2,500 people attended his son's wake. &#8220He had even signed up to be an organ donor.”
&#8220His colleagues had nothing but good things to say about him,” he continued. &#8220They are hurt almost as much as we are.”
Donations in Minerly's memory can be made to the New York Firefighters Burn Center Foundation, care of Engine 66/Ladder 61, 21 Asch Loop Bronx, NY 10475.