They were more than just names on a chalkboard
OVM:Steve Olsen
Irons: Gerard Dewar
Can-man: Joseph Ogren
Roofman: Timothy McSweeney
The chalkboard bearing the names of these men has now become their tombstone, a memorial to the six who left their firehouse never to return again.
Another half dozen men from the same firehouse joined them. Ladder 3 took the biggest hit of any single company in the FDNY (Fire Department of New York) on the day Manhattan shook.
One year on, firefighter Stephen Browne sits in his firehouse and tries to make sense of what happened.
“I was on vacation but I got in here as soon as I could after the plane hit the first tower. The guys had already gone, when a building that size goes on fire, the drill is to report to the command post straight away and get assigned, so they would have gone in pretty quick.
“All firefighters were re-called, it was the biggest fire in the department’s history.
“By the time I got down there, everything had blowing out of control. When I look back now, it’s kinda fuzzy. I remember wandering around, looking for signs of life and trying to put out fires in surrounding buildings.
“I just needed to get going and do stuff but I was sort of in automatic pilot and every now and then I’d stop, just trying to comprehend what had happened. I must have said ‘holy s**t 100 times that day.”
Stephen is still counting his blessings and cursing his dead comrades luck.
“They were a fantastic bunch of guys and we were very tight, like a family, that’s why so many lives were lost. Everyone was in it together.”
Captain Patrick Brown, the first name on the chalkboard, was with Ladder 3 for two years. He would have carried the flashlamp and assessed the bigger picture. Stephen says he was a big hero in the FDNY.
“Paddy B was one of the most famous firefighters ever and at one point he was the most decorated. He was also a Vietnam Vet. He was 49 and single. The ladies loved him.”
“The driver, Michael Carroll, had two kids, Brendan (8) and Olivia (3). He was also a brilliant firefighter, a natural athlete and big into sport, they even did a big article on him in Sports Illustrated. Whatever he did, he did really well. but he was still a real easy-going type of guy, if you walked into the firehouse and he was working, you’d be happy.”
Steven Olson, the OVM (outside vent man, the guy who operates from the fire escape through windows) was with Ladder 3 14 years, he had two kids. His life was full of tragedy.
“He lost both parents at 14. His brother died a year later in an accident, then his daughter was born with a heart defect. If anyone had the right to be bitter, it was him, but that’s not the way he lived life. He took it with a smile.”
The irons man, responsible for forcible entry, with his axe or crow-bar was Gerard Dewar, he had transferred from another firehouse eight months previously. A 35-year old Boston man, he had moved to New York because his own city had rejected his attempts to become a fireman. He was a little tough on himself, says Stephen, he wanted to be a firefighter so badly.
Joseph ‘J’ Ogren was the can-man, carrying the fire-extinguisher and hook. He should have got married three weeks ago. He was a smart guy, says Stephen, he was studying to get his Lieutenant’s test and was the kind of guy that knew how to enjoy himself.
Then there was the roofman, Timothy McSweeny, tasked with venting the roof.
“What can you say about Tim except that he was the rock, he ran everything around here.”
The other six to die were battalion chief John Williamson; Lt Kevin Donnelly; Joseph Maloney; John McAvoy; Jeffrey Giordano and James Coyle. A second battalion chief John Moran, whose brother Mike Moran is a firefighter at Ladder 3, is also remembered in the firehouse.
Their deaths left 16 children under the age of 18 fatherless. Almost all were of Irish descent.
“The guys that died, they were your Allstar team, if you had to pick one,” says Stephen.
A firehouse in mourning, but life goes on. In the midst of it all is a message on the canteen blackboard announcing that firefighter Mike Stapleton’s wife Jaclyn has had a baby boy. Gonzo, it says, has sent flowers. It’s some-one else’s birthday and there are high-fives all ‘round. They are no longer living off their nerves, in a state of high alert, wondering if for them, the next one is the big one
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