A memorial has been set up on the Long Beach boardwalk for the FDNY firefighter who was killed while on vacation in North Carolina.
Casey Skudin died when a tree fell on his SUV.
People have been leaving photos and writing messages of support on his surfboard.
Michelle Kromas trained with Skudin at the gym and came by the memorial at the boardwalk to write a message of support.
"When I didn't believe in myself, he always made me believe I was more of an athlete than I really was," Kromas says.
Skudin's cousin, Cliff Skudin, says Casey Skudin was a great dad to his children and a wonderful husband to his wife Angela. He says his cousin joined the FDNY after 9/11 and loved to surf, helping at the family's surf camp in Long Beach.
"He didn't say much but he spoke with his action and he was a leader and he was an awesome man," Cliff Skudin says.
A visitation for Skudin will be held on Thursday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the
Towers Funeral Home in Oceanside. A FDNY service will be held Friday from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
His funeral service will be held at 2:30 p.m. at All Souls Crematory in East Elmhurst.
There will also be a memorial paddle-out at Lido West Beach on Sunday at 9 a.m.
A
GoFundMe page has already raised over $30,000.
Skudin would have turned 46 on Sunday.