Firefighter Bill Butler is very grateful to be alive. He and five colleagues from Ladder 6, Engine 9, were in the North Tower helping to rescue a Port Authority worker named Josephine Harris when the building collapsed around them. Miraculously, the part of the stairwell that they were in remained intact and they survived though others above and below them perished. When the … [Read more...] about Bill Butler
Firefighters
Father Christopher Keenan:
Fire Department Chaplain
Fr. Christopher Keenan, a Franciscan priest whose parents came from Co. Galway and Co. Roscommon, has been assigned the difficult task of replacing the much loved Fr. Mychal Judge as chaplain of the Fire Department. Fr. Judge, a fellow Franciscan and a friend of Fr. Keenan's for 38 years, was killed on September 11 giving last rites to Fire Chief Bill Feehan. In his role as … [Read more...] about Father Christopher Keenan:
Fire Department Chaplain
Dennis Leary: Fundraiser
After the events of September 11, actor and comedian Denis Leary (interviewed in the February/March issue of Irish America) felt compelled to raise money for the families of deceased firefighters through the Leary Firefighters' Foundation. Leafy, who grew up in an Irish family with its fair share of police officers and firefighters, started the foundation a year and a half ago … [Read more...] about Dennis Leary: Fundraiser
Frank Cummins:
Just Doing His Job
For most firefighters, recognition is something they shy away from. Frank Cummins of Engine 255, Ladder 157, like countless other firefighters in the city of New York, dismisses his heroic deeds as "just doing my job." In the aftermath of September 11, Cummins spent weeks searching through the rubble for the remains of colleagues and civilian casualties at what the firefighters … [Read more...] about Frank Cummins:
Just Doing His Job
Sean Cummins: Firefighter
Dublin man Sean Cummins narrowly escaped death on September 11 as he had swapped shifts to take his mother to the airport for her flight back to Dublin. His firehouse at the time was Squad One in Brooklyn, which lost 12 members when the World Trade Center collapsed. He arrived at Ground Zero at about 10:40 a.m. on September 11 with a group of other off-duty firefighters from … [Read more...] about Sean Cummins: Firefighter