Last Man Down: A New York City Fire Chief and the Collapse of the World PDF
Preview Last Man Down: A New York City Fire Chief and the Collapse of the World
16043_fm.i-iii.qrk 2/20/02 1:04 PM Page i L M ast an D own 16043_fm.i-iii.qrk 2/20/02 1:04 PM Page ii 16043_fm.i-iii.qrk 2/20/02 1:04 PM Page iii L M ast an D own A Firefighter’s Story of Survival and Escape from the World Trade Center By FDNY B C ATTALION OMMANDER RICHARD PICCIOTTO with Daniel Paisner b BERKLEY BOOKS, NEW YORK ABerkley Book Published by the Berkley Publishing Group a division of Penguin Putnam Inc. 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, U.S.A. This book is an original publication of The Berkley Publishing Group. Copyright ©2002 Richard Picciotto. Cover photograph by Marty Heitner. Text design by Tiffany Kukec. All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission. BERKLEYand the ìBî design are trademarks belonging to Penguin Putnam Inc. Visit our website at www.penguinputnam.com Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Picciotto, Richard Last man down : a firefighterís story of survival and escape from the World Trade Center / by Richard Picciotto with Daniel Paisner. p. cm. ISBN 0 7865 2854 0 First edition (electronic): September 2002 Making or distributing electronic copies of this book constitutes copyright infringement and could sub- ject the infringer to criminal and civil liability. 5-5-5-5 When I first started out, in the early 1970s, it was the custom in thedepartment tosoundasequenceoffivebellsoverourinternal bell system, four times in a row, whenever a firefighter died on the job. Everyone would stop, wherever they stood, whatever they were doing, for a long moment of silence as the sequence rang out. Five bells, four times. Each time it came around, it struck me as more bittersweet than the last, because in each ring of the bell was the memory of every firefighter who had died before, mixed in with whoever it was who had died on that day. Lately, the bell-ringing has fallen out of use as we’vecometo relyondifferentsystemsofcommunication,butthesignalremains. •v• 5-5-5-5 The call of “Four Fives,” from one firefighter to another, will always signal the loss of a brother. But there is no replacingthose bells. I will never forget the sad sound of those five bells, four timesover,repeatedtwelvetimesafterthelegendaryWaldbaum’s fire of 1978, when we lost six good men and every firehouse in the city went silent as we counted off 120 rings. And I will never forgetthebellsweneverheardonSeptember11,2001,whenour country was in chaos and our city was in ruin, and 343 of our brother firefighters lay dead in the rubble of the World Trade Center complex. There was no time to ring the bells for these brave soldiers, and too few of us left to hear the ringing. “Greater love hath no man than to lay down his life for his fellowman,” goes the proverb invoked at countless firefighterfu- nerals and memorials, a tribute that has always echoed inthehalls ofNewYorkCityfirehousesthroughthesolemnringingofthose solemn bells. Andsothisbookisdedicatedtothefirefighterswhogavetheir lives on that tragic day. They are listed below, 343 strong, by division and company, according to the official list kept by the New YorkCityFireDepartment.Maytheirspiritssoar,andtheir legacieslinger,andmaytheirmentionherestandforthebellsthat never rang in their honor. Rank LastName FirstName AssignedUnit FF AnayaJr Calixto ENG004 ............................................................................................ CPT Farrelly Joseph ENG004 ............................................................................................ FF Riches James ENG004 ............................................................................................ •vi• 5-5-5-5 Rank LastName FirstName AssignedUnit FF Schoales Thomas ENG004 ............................................................................................ FF Tegtmeier Paul ENG004 ............................................................................................ FF Beyer Paul ENG006 ............................................................................................ LT Atlas Gregg ENG010 ............................................................................................ FF Pansini Paul ENG010 ............................................................................................ FF Allen Richard LAD015 ............................................................................................ FF Barry Arthur LAD015 ............................................................................................ FF Kelly Thomas LAD015 ............................................................................................ FF Kopytko Scott LAD015 ............................................................................................ FF Larsen Scott LAD015 ............................................................................................ FF Oelschlager Douglas LAD015 ............................................................................................ FF Olsen Eric LAD015 ............................................................................................ FF Lane Robert ENG055 ............................................................................................ FF Mozzillo Christopher ENG055 ............................................................................................ LT Giammona Vincent LAD005 ............................................................................................ FF Keating Paul LAD005 ............................................................................................ FF Saucedo Gregory LAD005 ............................................................................................ LT Halloran Vincent LAD008 ............................................................................................ CPT Fischer John LAD020 ............................................................................................ FF Cammarata Michael LAD011 ............................................................................................ FF Day Edward LAD011 ............................................................................................ FF KellyJr Richard LAD011 ............................................................................................ FF Arce David ENG033 ............................................................................................ FF Bilcher Brian ENG033 ............................................................................................ FF Boyle Michael ENG033 ............................................................................................ FF Evans Robert ENG033 ............................................................................................ FF KingJr Robert ENG033 ............................................................................................ FF Maynard Keithroy ENG033 ............................................................................................ •vii• 5-5-5-5 Rank LastName FirstName AssignedUnit LT Pfeifer Kevin ENG033 ............................................................................................ CPT Brown Patrick LAD003 ............................................................................................ FF Carroll Michael LAD003 ............................................................................................ FF Coyle James LAD003 ............................................................................................ FF Dewan Gerard LAD003 ............................................................................................ LT Donnelly Kevin LAD003 ............................................................................................ FF Giordano Jeffrey LAD003 ............................................................................................ FF McAvoy John LAD003 ............................................................................................ FF Ogren Joseph LAD003 ............................................................................................ FF Olson Steven LAD003 ............................................................................................ FF Baptiste Gerard LAD009 ............................................................................................ FF Tierney John LAD009 ............................................................................................ FF Walz Jeffrey LAD009 ............................................................................................ BC Palmer Orio BAT007 ............................................................................................ CPT Farino Thomas ENG026 ............................................................................................ FF Hannon Dana ENG026 ............................................................................................ FF SpearJr Robert ENG026 ............................................................................................ FF Atwood Gerald LAD021 ............................................................................................ FF Duffy Gerard LAD021 ............................................................................................ LT Fodor Michael LAD021 ............................................................................................ FF Glascoe Keith LAD021 ............................................................................................ FF Henry Joseph LAD021 ............................................................................................ FF Krukowski William LAD021 ............................................................................................ FF Suarez Benjamin LAD021 ............................................................................................ FF Belson Stephen LAD024 ............................................................................................ BC DeAngelis Thomas BAT008 ............................................................................................ CPT BurkeJr William ENG021 ............................................................................................ FF McCann Thomas ENG065 ............................................................................................ •viii• 5-5-5-5 Rank LastName FirstName AssignedUnit FF Dipasquale George LAD002 ............................................................................................ FF Germain Denis LAD002 ............................................................................................ FF Harlin Daniel LAD002 ............................................................................................ FF Mulligan Dennis LAD002 ............................................................................................ FF Cain George LAD007 ............................................................................................ FF Foti Robert LAD007 ............................................................................................ FF Mendez Charles LAD007 ............................................................................................ FF MuldowneyJr Richard LAD007 ............................................................................................ FF Princiotta Vincent LAD007 ............................................................................................ CPT Richard Vernon LAD007 ............................................................................................ FF Asaro Carl BAT009 ............................................................................................ BC Devlin Dennis BAT009 ............................................................................................ FF Feinberg Alan BAT009 ............................................................................................ BC Geraghty Edward BAT009 ............................................................................................ FF Marshall John ENG023 ............................................................................................ FF McPadden Robert ENG023 ............................................................................................ FF Pappageorge James ENG023 ............................................................................................ FF TiradoJr Hector ENG023 ............................................................................................ FF Whitford Mark ENG023 ............................................................................................ FF Bracken Kevin ENG040 ............................................................................................ FF Dauria Michael ENG040 ............................................................................................ LT Ginley John ENG040 ............................................................................................ FF Lynch Michael ENG040 ............................................................................................ FF Mercado Steve ENG040 ............................................................................................ FF Gill Paul ENG054 ............................................................................................ FF Guadalupe Jose ENG054 ............................................................................................ FF Ragaglia Leonard ENG054 ............................................................................................ FF AngeliniJr Joseph LAD004 ............................................................................................ FF Brennan Michael LAD004 ............................................................................................ •ix•
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