A funeral service, procession, and interment is scheduled to be held Tuesday for New Haven Firefighter Thomas Mieles who died while off-duty in a 5-vehicle crash on Interstate 91 on Nov. 2, according to the office of Mayor Justin Elicker.
Mieles was a new firefighter to the department and had graduated from firefighter training in January, department officials said just after the crash. He was a New Haven native and grew up near the East Battalion Headquarters on Lombard Street in Fair Haven where he was stationed.
The funeral service at 11 a.m. will be held at St. Francis Church, 397 Ferry St., New Haven, and the procession and interment will follow, with Mieles laid to rest at All Saints Cemetery, 700 Middletown Ave., North Haven.
“This is a sad and solemn day for the City of New Haven and the New Haven Fire Department. Firefighter Mieles was a New Havener through and through and just started his dream job and a promising career as a New Haven firefighter, serving the community he lived in and loved,” Elicker said in an emailed statement. “The City of New Haven continues to extend its deepest condolences to the Mieles family and grieves with them during this time of mourning and loss, and we thank Firefighter Mieles for his service as one of New Haven’s Bravest.”
Mieles grew up in New Haven near the station, went to Wilbur Cross High School and joined the department in January when he graduated from firefighter training, according to New Haven Fire Chief John Alston.
“Thomas loved the fire department,” Alston has said. “He was just hired in January, but one of the most exciting things he had was to work in this house with the people that are here with me. Growing up in his neighborhood and being able to protect his own neighborhood, I understand how proud he probably was.”
A fellow graduate of the 63rd class of New Haven firefighters, Ibrahim Cheek, said Mieles was “very full of life.”
