September 2011
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Irene’s Fatal Blow in New Jersey

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One of the members of our extended BOMA community, Richard Kenwood of Cushman & Wakefield, Inc., who sits on the BOMA Philadelphia Board of Directors and the BOMA International Audit Committee, lost his brother Michael, 39, from injuries he sustained while trying to save lives during Tropical Storm Irene.

During the pre-dawn hours of Saturday, Aug. 27, Michael, a member of the swift water rescue team deployed by the Princeton, N.J. First Aid and Rescue Squad, was swept away while attempting to search a submerged car. Michael was tied to another man by a line tended by rescue squad members on shore, and together they entered the rapidly moving water, according to a squad spokesman. But the two men quickly realized the current was too strong, and while attempting to turn back, one of the men fell and they became free of the line, said the spokesman.

Kenwood was pushed downstream, but later pulled from the water by a first aid backup team and hospitalized. It was thought at first that someone was trapped in the car; it was eventually determined to be empty. Unfortunately, he died of his injuries on the morning following his rescue attempt.

BOMA/NY extends its condolences to the entire Kenwood family.