The first thing Lynn firefighter Matt Reddy wants you to know about Ed Kelly is that wherever he is, or wherever you are, Kelly has your back.
And that’s why Reddy believed, and still believes, his longtime friend — who is a Boston firefighter — is the perfect man for his new position as president of the International Association of Firefighters, which encompasses fire departments in both the United States and Canada.
“He is a leader for the ages,” said Reddy.
“We are friends first,” said Reddy, who first met Kelly — whose sister, Dianne, is superintendent of Revere Public Schools — in 2004, when they were both young presidents of their respective local unions. “He’s charismatic, loyal and an extremely intelligent kid. He is dedicated to the members and their families.”
Reddy, now district vice president of the Professional Firefighters of Massachusetts, put it simply: “I believe in Ed Kelly.”
Reddy worked to help Kelly get elected to his new position, and that came to fruition a week ago Tuesday.
Kelly’s priorities are as tried and true as fire fighting itself, according to Reddy.
“His goal is to make the job safer. It’s to make sure families are taken care of. He’s committed 100 percent to that — to make lives better for firefighters and their families.
“My friendship with him starts it,” Reddy said. “But he wants to make the job safer, wants to see that the union dollars are spent how they’re supposed to be spent, wants new training … and it’s not just the members or the buildings. He is very concerned about helping the families of the firefighters, who may get sick or may make the ultimate sacrifice and die.
“I’ve been to hospitals with him, or fire scenes, and I know how these things affect him. He’s a good-hearted guy who wants to take care of the victims and their families.”
Kelly is the son, grandson, brother, nephew and cousin of firefighters. He joined the Boston Fire Department as a firefighter/EMT in 1997 and was assigned to the technical rescue team that assisted Worcester Local 1009 at the Cold Storage Warehouse fire in 1999. Kelly was among the hundreds of firefighters at Ground Zero after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center, and he also responded to the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013.
Kelly was president of the Boston Local 718 when the union engaged in a protracted struggle with the late Mayor Thomas M. Menino over the local’s contract.
Reddy said Kelly would not be a figurehead leader.
“He’ll roll his sleeves up and dive right in,” he said.
“That’s the easiest way to explain him,” Reddy said. “With all he has to do with this job, he still works a ladder truck in Boston. He has a wife, a son and a daughter, and they’ve been through a lot.
“He’s a caring soul. The minute something happens, he’s like, ‘How do we take care of our brother and his family. What happens now? How do we stop this from happening again?’ His goal is to not have anyone die in the line of duty.”
