The ghosts of Ladder 11

Twenty-five years on and, downtown, there are reminders. To get to the dispensary, the liquor store, the Duane Reade at East 2nd and B, you might go by the firehouse, and you might see the mural on the bay door: a large replica of the company's patch, a cartoon fireman running with an axe and a hose, above the words Los Bomberos Primero. It tells you who Los Bomberos Primero are, whose firehouse it is: E 28 L 11 (Engine 28 / Ladder 11). The hose represents the engine company; the axe, the ladder company.  

The slogan, Los Bomberos Primero, is an homage to the Spanish-speaking people who make up the heart, soul and history of this neighbourhood, Loisaida. The patch is superimposed on a trickier backdrop: an American flag blowing in the wind, twisting downward to reveal the southern tip of Manhattan, the sky at sunset, and the twin towers of the World Trade Center, their gleaming reflections cast across the waters of New York Harbor, the confluence of the Hudson and East Rivers. 

You won't always see the mural when you go by. Oftentimes the bay door is up. Oftentimes the bay is empty. But you can hear the sirens day and night. They stay busy. No matter the emergency — be it a car wreck or King Kong — the firefighters get a call and they have to go, 24/7. There's fires to put out; there's people to save; there's elevators stuck — or, if not, then there's drills to drill, buildings to spot-check. Long story short: the bay door stays up. 

One thing you do always see, though, painted on three squares of the steel plates that comprise the front door, is the names of six men from the firehouse, lost on 11 September 2001: Lt. Mike Quilty, F.F. Richard Kelly, F.F. Eddy Day, F.F. Matt Rogan, F.F. John Hefferman, F.F. Mike Cammarata. 

Mike Quilty, the lieutenant, was already a bona fide fireman, cited for bravery three times. For 18 years, he was at Engine 182 / Ladder 148, Greenpoint. In his spare time, he went scuba diving, flew airplanes, and made things. Mike could make a stained-glass window for you. In 2000, he made Lieutenant, and transferred from Brooklyn to Division 1, which put him in Lower Manhattan. He rotated through a few downtown firehouses before his assignment to Los Bomberos Primero in 2001. He got his 20-year ring from the fire department on the 5th of that September. The morning of the 11th, Lt. Mike Quilty was the officer in charge of Ladder 11. 

F.F. Richard J. Kelly, or Rick — Ricky, to his friends — was the chauffeur that morning. It was his job to drive the ladder truck down FDR to get to the World Trade Center. He was the senior man at the company, in terms of time served, 24 years and counting with the FDNY. Ricky was 50, but not too old to whip a ladder truck through downtown traffic. When given the chance, he liked to go fishing. He'd fish up in Pike County, PA. He'd bring the family with him. Ricky was a warm man, a music lover who bought more than 3,000 CDs. He loved all music, up to and including polka. His own instrument of choice was the boomba, a sort of pogo-stickesque device with a drum, cymbals and bells attached, popular with the Pennsylvania Dutch. Ricky'd bring his boomba to firehouse functions sometimes. Ricky'd play the boomba in front of everybody. Which probably took guts, too. 

At 45, F.F. Eddy Day was another old hand. He'd been on the job 17 years, and was renowned for his sense of humour. He didn't hold with any grouchiness, and he knew what to do with guys when they had a bad attitude. He'd slap a smiley-face sticker on their helmet when they weren't looking, his signature reminder to lighten up, his calling card. Eddy didn't learn how to swim until he was 40, yet he held a third-degree black belt in karate. He liked karate not for the violence, but rather for the self-control and inner peace he got from its practice. He wasn't looking for fights. Eddy was a peaceful man, like water, a true-blue, go-with-the-flow type of guy. His wife had a thing for Clint Eastwood movies, so when Eddy'd sign a letter or a card to her, he always signed it Clint Eastwood. Eddy wasn't really worried about Clint Eastwood. Clint Eastwood was a movie actor. Eddie Day was the outside vent man for Ladder 11. The OVM backed up the roof man. When they went to a fire, their work was at the top of the building, like in those ladder rescues you see on the news, or they’d go up and cut holes in the roof to let the heat and the smoke out.

The roof man that day was F.F. John Hefferman, aka Johnny Heff. Johnny Heff played in a punk rock band called The Bullys. The Bullys hailed from Rockaway Park; they were friends since childhood. Johnny played rhythm guitar, wrote songs, and sang backup vocals. Marky Ramone had produced the band's first album, Stomposition. Johnny Heff produced the second album, Tonight We Fight Again. The band had a gig coming up on September 22. Johnny Heff was no part-time fireman, though. Music was one of John's passions, but it was second to his family. He had a wife and daughter. Life wasn't all rock-and-roll. He was a man devoted to his responsibilities. Johnny Heff picked up the shift on the 11th to grab some overtime, and so he was the roof man that day.