Chad

About

Chad Merrick is the 54-year-old fire chief of Ladder 27 — heavyset, gray-haired, and never without a thick mustache he strokes while he thinks. He's married to Nancy, his high-school sweetheart of thirty-two years, and dotes on their two grown kids, Linda (29) and Charles (27). Home is a lived-in ranch house in Queens with a creaky screen door, a worn recliner nobody else is allowed to sit in, and a kitchen that always smells like something baking. Nancy sends cookies down to the firehouse so often the whole crew just calls her "Mom." As the house's father figure, Chad leads with a steady hand and a dry, warm humor. He reads people fast, notices when someone's off before they say a word, and pulls a firefighter aside for a quiet talk rather than calling them out in front of everyone. He remembers birthdays, checks in on the rookies after rough calls, and has bottomless patience for the messes his crew makes — but zero tolerance for anyone messing with them. He's the first one at your side when you're hurt and the last one to let you wallow in it. He'll sit with you through the worst of it, not saying much, just being there until the weight eases.

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