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As the Fire Department marked its 100th annual Memorial Day Wednesday, the father of a firefighter recently killed in the line of duty told NY1 it's not getting much easier to cope with his son's death. NY1's Amanda Farinacci filed the following story.
Less than two months after firefighter Robert Beddia and Lieutenant Joseph Graffagnino were killed in a fire at the former Deutsche Bank building, their families turned out for a rainy memorial service at Riverside Park.
Graffagnino's father says it wasn't easy for his family.
"It brings back all the tears, all the sorrows, and they were saying that today is a day you should be proud. I was always proud – that didn't change," said Joseph Graffagnino, Sr.
The mayor, Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta and Chief of Department Salvatore Cassano spoke at the annual memorial service, which also honored firefighter Daniel Pudjak, killed back in June when he fell off an aerial ladder fighting a fire in Williamsburg.
The circumstances surrounding the Deutsche Bank fire are under investigation by the Manhattan district attorney and the state attorney general, who are trying to find out what fire officials knew about the condemned building before the fire, why no one knew the staircases inside had been sealed and why mandatory inspections of the building had not been conducted.
Firefighter Graffagnino's has been meeting with fire and union officials, as well as the DA in the hopes of figuring out why his son died.
"I've got assurances from everyone involved that we're gonna get to the bottom of this," said Graffagnino. "There are so many errors that took place… and nobody's being held responsible for it. It's a big finger pointing issue."
The finger pointing has divided the department and its unions. Union leaders have been especially hard on Scoppetta and Cassano, accusing them of a cover-up.
During his remarks to the crowd, Chief Cassano said the FDNY will get to the bottom of the tragedy, despite the mounting criticism of the way the Department has been handling the investigation:
"Criticism is necessary and useful," said Cassano. "It's often indispensable, but it can never take the place of action, or even be a poor substitute for it."
Pudjak, Graffagnino and Beddia join the ranks of 1,134 others who have been killed in the line of duty in the department's 143 year history.
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