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Albany County resident Ryan Gagliardi, a 1st Lieutenant with the Fuller Road Volunteer Fire Department in Colonie, died unexpectedly Monday, Sept. 26, at the age of 21, according to Malta-Stillwater EMS.
“Ryan had been a valued member of MSEMS since February 2020,” the agency wrote on Facebook. “He was a well-respected EMT and a damn good friend! We will all miss him more than words can express.”
The Fuller Road Volunteer Fire Department also posted a tribute to Gagliardi on Facebook, which has garnered hundreds of shares and reactions.
“Ryan was a friend to all, an integral member of our department and an inspiration to all around him, especially our younger members, many of whom wanted to be just like him,”the agency wrote.
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to all his family and friends. We've got it from here Brother!!”
Colleagues told the Albany Times Union that Gagliardi graduated early from high school to attend Hudson Valley Community College at age 16 to study respiratory care.
He later studied fire, arson, and explosion investigation at Eastern Kentucky University, according to his Facebook profile.
Gagliardi first joined the Fuller Road Fire Department at the age of 15 as a volunteer, his colleagues said.
In a tribute posted to Gagliardi's Facebook page, colleague Timothy Snowden wrote how he took the young man under his wing and taught him everything he knows about EMS.
"You never once stopped asking questions whether it had to do with medicine or just life in general,” Snowden wrote.
“It is easy to say that you became like a little brother to me. Goodbye brother, Rest in peace my friend.”
Gagliardi’s cause of death was not revealed and no memorial plans had been announced as of Friday, Sept. 30.
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