Blog | Better Angels

Firefighter Eugene Whelan

Posted on January 28, 2015 by Dawn Siebel

Eugene Whelan, 31, was the ninth of ten children.  Being a firefighter was a lifelong dream. Whelan knew he wanted to be a firefighter since he was ten, and he made his dream come true in 1995.

With lots of nieces and nephews (and being a big kid himself), Whelan was “everyone’s favorite uncle.” At the firehouse, neighborhood kids brought their bicycles by for him to fix. Sometimes he even dragged the chalkboard outside and gave impromptu lessons. He kept extra winter jackets in his jeep to give to a shivering homeless person should he see one.

Nicknamed “The Hugger” because all handshakes became a bear hug (“Eugene Hugs”). He was the “king of fun” until the alarm sounded. Then the became the “consummate professional.”  One of his brothers was sworn in to the FDNY in the first class that graduated after 9/11.

Posted in Better Angels Stories | Tagged 343, 9/11, better angels, Dawn Siebel, Engine Co. 230, Eugene Whelan, FDNY, firefighter, firefighters, firefighters of 9/11, LODD, Manhattan, memorial, NFFF, paintings, portraits, World Trade Center, WTC | Leave a comment

Firefighter Jeffrey Stark

Posted on January 27, 2015 by Dawn Siebel

Jeffrey Stark, 30, was the youngest of five children. He spent the first few years on his own behind a desk for Paine Webber when he changed plans and followed his two older brothers into the FDNY in 1999.

He was an outdoorsman and loved fly fishing, camping and hunting. Stark played guitar and was an avid reader. He was also working on plans to get married to his long time girlfriend whom he had chauffeured, and encouraged through her entire four years of law school. Although fires “made him nervous,” what really worried him was ever making mistakes in front of his brother firefighters.

Posted in Better Angels Stories | Tagged 343, 9/11, better angels, Dawn Siebel, Engine Co. 230, FDNY, firefighter, firefighters, firefighters of 9/11, Jeffrey Stark, LODD, Manhattan, memorial, NFFF, paintings, portraits, World Trade Center, WTC | Leave a comment

Firefighter Michael Carlo

Posted on January 26, 2015 by Dawn Siebel

Michael Carlo, 35, was due to go on vacation with his firefighter brother on September 12th. They were headed to Tortola in the British Virgin Islands where they planned to each earn their captain’s certificates from the American Sailing Association.

Carlo had a roofing company with that same brother and when they weren’t at the firehouse or on the roof, they were at the beach. Carlo had bought himself a place in Long Beach and it’s there along the boardwalk that a bench has been dedicated to his memory. It bears this plaque with one of his favorite quotes: “Twenty years from now you’ll be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than the ones that you did. So cast off your bow line, sail away from your safe harbor. Explore, dream, and discover.” (Mark Twain)

Posted in Better Angels Stories | Tagged 343, 9/11, better angels, Dawn Siebel, Engine Co. 230, FDNY, firefighter, firefighters, firefighters of 9/11, LODD, Manhattan, memorial, Michael Carlo, NFFF, paintings, portraits, World Trade Center, WTC | Leave a comment

Firefighter Frank Bonomo

Posted on January 25, 2015 by Dawn Siebel

Frank Bonomo, of Engine 230 was 42. With 17 years in the department, retirement at the 20-year mark had begun to look appealing, partly because he now had two young children, aged four and one. Nicknamed “M&M,” Bonomo looked hard on the outside, but had a big heart.

Had he retired, he would have made more of his part time TV and video repair business. But his favorite thing to do was play golf. He was determined to get good enough to play the Senior Tour when he retired. Although known for not being handy around the house (except with a TV), he invested months installing a putting green in his yard so he could practice at home.

Posted in Better Angels Stories | Tagged 343, 9/11, better angels, Dawn Siebel, Engine Co. 230, FDNY, firefighter, firefighters, firefighters of 9/11, Frank Bonomo, LODD, Manhattan, memorial, NFFF, paintings, portraits, World Trade Center, WTC | Leave a comment

Lt. Brian Ahearn

Posted on January 24, 2015 by Dawn Siebel

Lt. Brian Ahearn, 43, was a father of two and lived in Huntington, New York. He loved baseball and had played for the FDNY team.

Engine 230 had just come back to the station from another call when someone yelled “Turn on the TV.” They looked at the TV then ran up to the roof to look across the river at the North Tower on fire. They watched the second plane strike. Then the call came in to respond. They found their way through snarled traffic and closing roads across the river and parked at Broadway and Vesey – as close as they could get. All except the chauffeur geared up and headed in. They were last reported helping in Tower Two.

Posted in Better Angels Stories | Tagged 343, 9/11, better angels, Brian Ahearn, Dawn Siebel, Engine Co. 230, FDNY, firefighter, firefighters, firefighters of 9/11, LODD, Manhattan, memorial, NFFF, paintings, portraits, World Trade Center, WTC | Leave a comment

Engine Co. 217

Posted on January 23, 2015 by Dawn Siebel

Engine 219 had a few runs in Brooklyn after the first plane hit. Like other Brooklyn companies, the call came seconds after the second plane strike. As they headed to the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, E219 was diverted to a reported fire in the 37-story Williamsburg Bank Building in downtown Brooklyn. Turned out to be a false alarm generated by all the smoke coming in from Manhattan. They headed back towards the WTC and just as they were about to emerge from the tunnel, everything went black. They thought the tunnel had been hit and were expecting water any second. Inside the tunnel was a radio blackout. After five minutes or so it cleared enough that Lt. Scott Maxwell could guide the chauffeur the remaining distance out. The ruins of the South Tower were just ahead. This story is the one he tells from “In Their Own Words.”

They parked their rig along the perimeter. Everything closer was flattened. Grabbing their gear and spare air, they headed north against the flow of people running away. They saw Ladder 113 on fire. They saw people still jumping from the North Tower, and then saw it just “start to peel away. We dove under a rig. It took five seconds for the debris to hit. Everybody was quiet. I had the feeling I was going to die…. It was a strange feeling. The chauffeur said ‘pray.’”  They survived. In time it cleared enough to move again. After getting around the collapsed south pedestrian bridge, Engine 219 eventually connected with a hoseline and spent the rest of the day “trying to do what we could with it.” Water was being brought in via fire boats from the river.  “When Building 7 collapsed, everybody ran away. Another dust cloud appeared. I said here it comes! Everything turned black again. Then the dust settled. It was strange to see people react. You were a collapse veteran trudging along doing your thing. I spent the whole night there. We were sent on missions all night.”  Their firehouse brothers, the recalled members of Ladder 105 found their rig and worked through the night to uncover it. I don’t think anyone who rode to the fire on that truck was ever found.

For Engine 219, that last second call to the fire that didn’t exist probably saved all their lives.

Posted in Better Angels Stories | Tagged 343, 9/11, better angels, Dawn Siebel, Engine Co. 219, FDNY, firefighter, firefighters, firefighters of 9/11, LODD, Manhattan, memorial, NFFF, paintings, portraits, World Trade Center, WTC | Leave a comment

Firefighter John Chipura

Posted on January 22, 2015 by Dawn Siebel

John Chipura, 39, was a Marine from 1980 to 1987. He survived the bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut but it was three days before he could get word to his family that he was safe. For them, 9/11 was eerily familiar, but this time no phone call ever came.

He spent 12 years in the NYPD, finishing up as a Detective before he made the move to the FDNY in 1998, following the footsteps of his father. His brother said, “He always thought people call the Police Department when there’s a problem, to get somebody bad, but you call the Fire Department when people needed help.” He was recently back in Engine 219 after rotations elsewhere.

Chipura’s sister worked on the 69th floor of Tower One. Although he kept trying to reach her that morning and couldn’t, she safely evacuated.  He was getting married in just six weeks and that had been his main focus for the past few months. That morning he was sent to respond with Ladder 105, while the others on Engine 219 responded to a call downtown Brooklyn before going to lower Manhattan.

Posted in Better Angels Stories | Tagged 343, 9/11, better angels, Dawn Siebel, Engine Co. 219, FDNY, firefighter, firefighters, firefighters of 9/11, John Chipura, Ladder Co. 105, LODD, Manhattan, memorial, NFFF, paintings, portraits, World Trade Center, WTC | Leave a comment

Firefighter Frank Palombo

Posted on January 21, 2015 by Dawn Siebel

Frank Palombo, 46, joined the FDNY in 1979.  In 1985, Palombo and his wife both joined the Neocatechumenal Way and then had ten children over the next 14 years. He believed each of them was an “undeserved gift from God.” Very involved with his faith, he loved saving bodies by being a firefighter as much as he loved saving souls through his faith.

Posted in Better Angels Stories | Tagged 343, 9/11, better angels, Dawn Siebel, FDNY, firefighter, firefighters, firefighters of 9/11, Frank Palombo, Ladder Co. 105, LODD, Manhattan, memorial, NFFF, paintings, portraits, World Trade Center, WTC | Leave a comment

Firefighter Dennis O’Berg

Posted on January 20, 2015 by Dawn Siebel

Dennis O’Berg, 28, a probie, was only six weeks out of the Fire Academy and married just 11 months. He was an accountant for a year before changing his mind and entering his father’s profession. He loved his new job.  His dad, a lieutenant, was a 31-year FDNY vet. He was also called to the WTC but arrived in time to see the South Tower collapsing in front of him as they came down Liberty Street. Several hours later, after putting out a fire in the Presidential a block away, other firefighters led him to the ruins of Ladder 105 under the Marriott. “It’s not supposed to happen that way,” he thought – son before the father. So he retired. He spent the next many many months working the pile. Dennis was never found.

Posted in Better Angels Stories | Tagged 343, 9/11, better angels, Dawn Siebel, Dennis O'Berg, FDNY, firefighter, firefighters, firefighters of 9/11, Ladder Co. 105, LODD, Manhattan, memorial, NFFF, paintings, portraits, World Trade Center, WTC | Leave a comment

Firefighter Henry Miller, Jr.

Posted on January 19, 2015 by Dawn Siebel

Henry Miller Jr., 52, was with Ladder 105 for 28 years. Three separate times he declined to retire because he loved being a firefighter. Just as he had for the 1993 WTC bombing, Miller chauffered 105’s hook and ladder to the WTC that morning and parked it in front of the Marriott Hotel. That’s where it was later found, flattened by the debris.

He had studied to be an accountant but it wasn’t long before Miller knew he’d really rather follow his father, a 38-year vet, into the FDNY.

Just 7 years before 9/11 he had married his best friend’s sister – someone he had known since she was 17. They were casually friendly for years and then one year things changed. When they married, he gained a ready-made family. Rumor has it he was actually really thinking about retiring in another 2 years.

Posted in Better Angels Stories | Tagged 343, 9/11, better angels, Dawn Siebel, FDNY, firefighter, firefighters, firefighters of 9/11, Henry Miller Jr, Ladder Co. 105, LODD, Manhattan, memorial, NFFF, paintings, portraits, World Trade Center, WTC | Leave a comment