Jeff Firefighter's Death Devastates Colleagues Apparent Heart Attack Killed
Him During Fire
Times Picayune 10-15-1996

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For the first time in 19 years, Lt. Bobby Butler of the East Bank Consolidated
Fire Department felt lost Monday when he stepped into the fire station on
Jefferson Highway.

It was a day after his best friend, firefighter Keith Boudoin, died of an
apparent heart attack fighting a house fire in Metairie - the first
firefighter to die in the line of duty in the 44-year history of the
department.

Boudoin and Butler, stationed together for most of the past 19 years, also
worked for the same construction company on their off days for several years
and fished regularly with one another.

"We worked together, we shared the same second job for quite awhile and we
spent a lot of our time off together," Butler said. "Keith and I saw each
other more than we saw our wives."

Not seeing the easy-smiling, low-key Boudoin on Monday was almost more than
Butler could take. "You can't imagine how difficult it was to walk into the
station today," he said. "You just cannot imagine."

Monday was a difficult and most unusual day for each of the 190 firefighters
and 45 other employees of the department, Superintendent Donald Bock said.

A team of firefighters from throughout the area assisted by a psychologist met
with firefighters to talk about the tragedy, Bock said.

Boudoin, 41, a 20-year veteran of the department, was among the firefighters
who responded Sunday about 12:25 a.m. to a house fire at 514 Coolidge St.,
authorities said. Flames and smoke from the electrical blaze were pouring from
the two-story house and two smaller houses when firefighters arrived,
officials said.

Boudoin was preparing to put on a fresh air pack to make a third trip into the
house when he collapsed on the front lawn, said George Rigamer, spokesman for
the Fire Department.

No occupants were home at the time, and no one else was injured.

Boudoin was taken to Ochsner Foundation Hospital, where he died. About 4 a.m.,
Bock rounded up all firefighters who were at the house for a meeting at
Station 11 at 3525 Jefferson Highway.

"When you have the superintendent and all the chiefs, we knew something bad
was coming down," Butler said. Bock said the announcement was one of the most
difficult he has made as a firefighter.

"To see a group of grown men sitting down and crying with each other, that was
hard. But I think it probably did them a lot of good to be together."

Boudoin's death was the second of an East Jefferson firefighter in less than a
month. Lawrence "JuJu" Roche of the Harahan Fire Department died of a heart
attack while unloading equipment during an air conditioner fire Aug. 28.

Bock said there is no required physical fitness regimen for firefighters, and
the department does not require yearly physicals. He said he probably will
launch an education effort to make sure firefighters know the importance of
staying fit, eating properly and getting regular checkups.

He said he would love to implement a yearly physical and stress test paid for
by the department, "but like most departments, we just don't have the money.
Hopefully, it is something all the firefighters will do on their own."

Assistant Chief Ray Kavanaugh, a friend for 15 years, said Boudoin was a
"tremendous cook" who regularly fixed meals during his shift, even though the
chore is regularly shared at other stations.

"That was his love, and no one tried to take it away. He just liked to cook,
and he liked to cook whatever you liked to eat."

Boudoin worked as a carpenter until the past few years, and often offered to
help work on the homes of other firefighters for no charge, Kavanaugh and
Butler said.

"He was a family man. He was a good friend. He was just a good person," Butler
said.

Butler said Boudoin's wife, Donna, and their three children, a daughter, 16,
and two sons, 13, and 12, are devastated. While a funeral with full Fire
Department honors has been planned for Wednesday, the family is comforting one
another and maintaining their privacy.

Visitation for Boudoin will be today from 7 to 9 p.m. and Wednesday from 8
a.m. to 1 p.m. at Leitz-Eagan Funeral Home, 4747 Veterans Memorial Blvd.

A funeral procession will begin Wednesday at 1 p.m. from the funeral home to a
review in front of Boudoin's station, at 3525 Jefferson Highway, then to
Garden of Memories cemetery at 4800 Airline Highway.

Bock said Monday that a fund has been established for Boudoin's wife and
children. Contributions to the Keith Boudoin Fund will be accepted at any
First National Bank of Commerce branch in the area, or can be mailed to First
NBC, P.O. Box 60297, New Orleans, La., 70160.