The tragic FDNY firefighter who was on active duty with the US Marine Corp when he was killed in Afghanistan Monday was “excited” to be coming home soon, a fellow smoke-eater told The Post.
Outside Ladder 27 in the Bronx, where Christopher Slutman worked since 2015, the stunned pal opened up about their last conversation.
“I just spoke to him last week on the satellite phone,” the fireman said on Tuesday. “He was real excited about coming home. He was scheduled to be coming home soon.”
A steady stream of grief-wracked firefighters poured into the Claremont station house, delivering food and flowers. The friend couldn’t come to grips with the tragedy hitting so close to home.
“I didn’t think this was going to happen. He definitely didn’t. His girls are young,” he said referring to Slutman’s three young daughters with wife Shannon. “I can’t believe this keeps happening. They still got the hooks up from the last time they hung the bunting.”
Slutman, 43, an FDNY veteran of 15 years and Marine staff sergeant, was killed when a roadside bomb detonated near Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan.
Two other US servicemen were killed, while four others were injured. An Afghani contractor who was initially believed to be among the dead is alive, the NATO-led Resolute Support mission clarified on Tuesday.
Slutman was also a longtime volunteer with the Kentland Volunteer Fire Department in Maryland.