Forgotten Heroes of Ground Zero

On a daily basis, somewhere in the city, firefighters are confronted with urban decay and abandoned buildings of unbelievable proportions. Such buildings are home to the cities less fortunate and drug addicts. Fire on arrival is not an uncommon site and not typically accidental, but the work of arson. These Fires pose hazardous conditions to firefighters since the structures are already in such bad shape. For twenty years my fellow firefighters and I have had to deal with this added danger in our lives all too often.

Although the outward appearance of a firefighter is a happy one, and it may look as though we are having a good time, all that could change in a mere moment. In the time it takes to snap a finger and all you know could be gone forever, or a life can be saved, that is, if given a firefighter is given the chance to do what he does best, save lives and property.

You are about to read and find out the inside the life of a N.Y.C. Firefighter with twenty years of experience. These are the typical, everyday circumstances one must face on a daily basis in a big city. Whether they are fighting a burning high-rise in Midtown Manhattan, a brownstone in Brooklyn, a frame building in Staten Island, a tax-payer in Queens or a run-down apartment in the Bronx, firefighters never complain of the real dangers of their chosen profession. With the spirit and dedication that is uncommon of the laborer, they just love what they do.

It all begins at the "Rock" Probie School. It is here where probationary firefighters are taught the very basics of those skills they will need in their careers, along with stamina and physical conditioning, honed under the most stressful and trying conditions for the never-ending task of being a firefighter. This is where you grasp the importance of always giving 120% in every instance, every moment, every second because every brother will depend upon another. This is where rough edges are cut off. The fundamentals are sharpened with constant training and time, the newly learned skills of a professional art. With all the tragedy and trauma, and unsaved lives they will have to face, the "Rock" gives them just a peek into the brotherhood of a firefighter, which is steep in tradition. Later in the field their skills are sharpened by the cruelty of fire. Firefighters do not have the luxury of making costly mistakes. There are no time-outs....only at their first fire will they really know one's power and familiarize themselves with the profession of firefighting. They will also learn the words of their instructors,

"Let no man or women say their training let them down or failed them".

For twenty years, I have worked in some of the busiest fire companies the city has. I am a member of Ladder L-111 the "Nut House Truck". It also houses one of the best engines on the job, Eng-214. We cover the third busiest area in the city, the Bedford Sty section of Brooklyn. For almost thirty years we never lost a member of our house....

On September 11, 2001, that would all change when we lost five great individuals, ones I called my friends, better yet, I called my brothers...in all I lost 129 of my friends on that faithful day. Of the 343 firefighters killed, 129 were people I had touched in my twenty-year career. This is my story...my brothers in battle.

FF Russell Feliciano
L-111/Eng 214