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September 23rd at Yankees Stadium, a Memorial Service will be held for all families of the victims of the World Trade Center tragedy. Please be advised that we have not received any tickets for this event. We will have our own Memorial Service when the time is right. The families can reach out to the Fire Department for information on the tickets.
On Thursday, September 20th, eight more memorial services were held for our Fallen Brothers. I want to commend all of our members for their tremendous show of support and respect for each of these services. Although our resources have been stretched to the limit, our continued support of each and every family who has lost a loved one or whose loved one is still missing is our number one priority and I thank you for your outpouring of love to our families.
The operation at the site is continuing around the clock with three shifts of Firefighters operating on a 10 hour overlapping schedule. The UFA has asked that the Department to rotate the firefighters at the site with the members in each firehouse every four days so that we can keep our members fresh and safe from both physical and emotional distress. I believe the Department has agreed and we thank them for their cooperation.
The Department has also agreed to release a member of each company to the family of any brother who is identified as deceased. This will help the families as well as help the Union by allowing the member to assist with arrangements for the wake and funeral. The company of the deceased member will be released from the day tour on the day of the funeral. The adjoining company can get volunteers to man their company for the day of the funeral.
By this time, your Borough Trustee should have made contact with each company who has lost a member to answer any questions you may have and to assist with whatever problems you may be facing. If you need assistance in an emergency situation, you can call the UFA any day and speak with the Board member on duty or you can reach your Borough Trustee during the evening hours. Please limit these calls to true emergencies only.
I am asking each Trustee to contact every house that has lost a member or who has a member missing so that one representative from that house could come to the UFA office to get paperwork and receive a $10,000 check to help each family who is missing a loved one. The checks from the IAFF will be available beginning Wednesday, September 26th. A schedule that is convenient will be worked out with each company. The checks and the paperwork must then be delivered by that company to all the effected families. This we believe is the quickest and easiest way to get some financial help to each of our families. Someone from the UFA will contact your company before Wednesday to arrange a time and to get the name of your company representative.
The Department and the Unions have met with the families earlier this week to discuss and give out information on resources available and collect data as well as answer questions and introduce the counseling unit to each family. The IAFF has assembled a Team of over 100 Critical Incident Stress Debriefing professionals to work with our counseling unit to assist our families and our members who need their assistance. If there is a need for this help, you can call the Counseling Unit at (718) 352-2140 or call the UFA for more information.
On Monday at Ft. Totten and on Tuesday at Mt. Manresa on Staten Island, the Police Department will be available to take a missing person report from any family member and also will accept DNA samples for the missing members for anyone who has not supplied this information as of yet. Please convey this message to each of your families. This service will be available between 9 AM - 4 PM.
The Commissioner has made available to the families the opportunity to go to the World Trade Center site. If you are interested in arranging a visit, please contact Chief Mc Carthy at (718) 999-2655 to set up a time that is convenient to all.
Finally, much more of the heavy work is being done at the site. This means a lot more down time for our companies while the crane operators lift the heavy beams. Be patient. It is still a very dangerous operation and we don’t want to lose another firefighter in our efforts to search and rescue.
Also, no member needs to worry about exposure reports for the WTC terrorist attack (CD 73). The department will automatically file one for all
members who participated at this incident.
Stay strong and stay safe. Continue to support our companies and our families. There is still much more to be done and with the help of God, we will get through this together.
Back To Top Fraternally, WILLIAM F. MIRRO
Recording Secretary, KEVIN E. GALLAGHER
President
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