Columbia Heights Fire Captain Anthony “Tony” Cuzzuppe died unexpectedly on April 17, according to an April 18 announcement from the Columbia Heights Fire Department.
Cuzzuppe began his fire service career as a reserve firefighter on June 17, 2002, according to a department Facebook post. He was appointed a paid on-call firefighter on July 1, 2003, hired full time on Sept. 13, 2005, and promoted to fire captain on Oct. 27, 2016.
“I had the privilege of working alongside Tony for several years when I was a fire captain,” Fire Chief Dan O’Brien said in the post. “In the fire service, people often talk about brotherhood, but it is difficult to fully understand unless you have lived it.”
O’Brien said Cuzzuppe made a lasting impact on the department, the fire service and the thousands of people he served in the community.
“Our thoughts and heartfelt condolences are with Tony’s family, friends, coworkers and all who knew him,” O’Brien wrote.