Family of 'Iron Bill' Dowling receives warm welcome home in Colorado

Capt. Bill Dowling (KPRC/Family photo)

DURANGO, Colo. – The family of Capt. Bill “Iron Bill” Dowling received a warm welcome when they returned home Tuesday nightto Colorado.

People waited for Dowling’s relatives at the airport, wearing red “Iron Bill” shirts and holding a “Welcome home” sign.

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The Dowling family moved to Colorado in August 2016, three years after a devastating Houston hotel fire on May 31, 2013, in which Dowling was seriously injured and four other firefighters died.

Dowling died March 7 from complications from his fire injuries.

A Facebook post accompanying photos of the homecoming read: “We had a wonderful surprise waiting for us when we stepped off the plane in Durango tonight. It was such a sweet gesture. We are loved here too, and I'm so grateful for good friends.

"And I absolutely loved the Iron Bill T-shirts! It was all I could do not to cry. Bill would have been grinning from ear to ear.”

We had a wonderful surprise waiting for us when we stepped off the plane in Durango tonight. It was such a sweet...

Posted by Capt. William Dowling "Iron Bill" on Tuesday, March 28, 2017

Based on previous posts, it appears that Dowling’s wife, Jacki Dowling, is maintaining the page, with posts about the loss to her family, as well as the controversy surrounding the future of Houston firefighters’ pensions.