By Kwanwoo Jun
EAST VILLAGE, New York -- Lieutenant Joseph Curl, a lucky New York firefighter, was traveling in Mexico during the September 11 attacks a decade ago. None of his close friends and colleagues was hurt or killed. But a firehouse, where he currently works, lacked such luck.
Curl’s firehouse on East 2nd Street lost six men at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, and in January this year, a seventh to cancer linked to his work at Ground Zero following the attacks.
A total of 343 firefighters perished in the search and rescue operations following the terrorist attacks.
Marking the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks on Sunday, Curl, 50, was among hundreds of firefighters who attended a special mass for the fallen in the neighborhood at Most Holy Redeemer Church, a block up from his firehouse. Church bells rang at noon. A somber mood filled the church on East 3rd Street as people in dark blue uniforms trickled in to take a seat. The portraits of the seven fallen firemen and a small Stars and Stripes flag decorated a bulletin board that was neatly placed on a tripod. A wreath of flowers -- white chrysanthemum and lilies -- was laid at the bottom.
Curl prayed for the fallen and their families. He also thanked God that luck had been on his side in the past 20 years, but he knew luck could change sides anytime.
After all, Curl puts his life on the line every day. He can retire anytime as he is now entitled to a pension after serving 20 years of the service. But he loves his job so much that he just cannot quit in fear.
“Never for a minute. Never for a second,” Curl said in a terse, resolute response to a question if he had ever thought of quitting the dangerous job.
What has made him carry on is not a lack of fear but a confidence in people’s support for his job that he has always been proud of. “I remember my first day as a fireman, riding in a fire engine and pulling up next to a bus,” Curl said in a convincing tone after the 90-minute mass. “People waved at us. People loved us. I got in 1991. I felt it immediately. We have been always popular.”
But he had no fantasy about his safety.
“Good things and a lot of pretty horrible things happen,” said the stout and shaven-headed fireman. Danger, grief and loss seemed already a part of his daily life. “We have many anniversaries on the job,” he said. “We remember our former brothers all the time. We have announcements made everyday. Fire safety messages they tell us different tips on how to remain safe in our job.”
During the special mass, he said he prayed for “the families who lost loved ones and the survivors who deal with the process of grief and loss” that he luckily did not have to go through in the past. “I’m blessed,” he said.
His firehouse on East 2nd Street consists of two units -- Engine Company 28 and Ladder Company 11. Each company has a truck of its own with six firemen aboard. The “engine” unit focuses on putting out blazes while the “ladder” unit focuses on searching and rescuing those trapped by fires.
On September 11, 2001, the “ladder” unit of the firehouse bore the brunt of the tragedy. The entire six firefighters of Ladder Company 11 – Mike Quilty, Matt Rogan, Rich Kelly, Edward Day, John Heffernan and Mike Cammarata – were buried to the debris when the South Tower collapsed over them.
“Unfortunately, (the Ladder Company) 11 truck was not so lucky,” said Sean O’Sallivan, a captain who had been with Engine Company 9, which also joined the search and rescue operations with Ladder Company 11 at Ground Zero. He was also in the Sunday mass. “We were in the North Tower. We were going up to the 25th floor. That’s when the South Tower collapsed. So, we evacuated the building. And then the North Tower collapsed.”
O’Sallivan said his company luckily managed to escape the collapse. “We were very fortunate that we didn’t lose anyone on that day,” he said.
But O’Sallivan refused to elaborate further on the traumatic situation. “It’s something you can’t forget if you try. You try not to dwell on it but you can’t forget it.” He then zipped up his mouth and hurriedly left the church.
The firehouse on East 2nd Street has seven bronze-made rectangular plaques displayed out on the wall. Each plaque carries the name of each fireman killed in “SUPREME SACRIFICE” at Ground Zero. A dark brown vase of red flowers and six small Stars and Stripes flags rested neatly below the plaques.
“You never forget the love these people showed,” Father Sean McGillicuddy of Most Holy Redeemer Church said after the mass. “It doesn’t take away grieving, but it gives us consolation and helps us see death through God’s eyes, not just our eyes. Our neighbors and our friends among those who passed away were heroic on that day.” The Roman Catholic priest said he saw “hope” in the fallen. “These people in uniform are faithful people and hopeful people,” he added.
On January 9 this year, Roy Chelsen, a fireman of Engine Company 28, died of bone-marrow cancer that was linked to his weeks of work at Ground Zero after the September 11 attacks. An extensive study of the health impact that toxic dust and fumes caused by the attacks may have on firefighters and other rescue workers is currently underway.
On Friday, two days before the mass, a retired Roman Catholic priest who declined to give his full name and instead identified himself as Monsignor Donald dropped by and blessed the firehouse on his own. Reciting a breviary and draping a purple stole around his neck, he performed a 15-minute ritual of administering absolution to the dead before the firehouse.
“At the moment of their death, because they gave up themselves, they began absolution already,” the retired priest said.
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