Firefighter Karl Joseph, 25, was still a probie. He’d joined the FDNY less than a year earlier, in October 2010. He was assigned to Engine 207 in Fort Green, Brooklyn. Born in Haiti, as a child Joseph came to the U.S. with his parents and eight other siblings in search of a better life.
Like all probies, Joseph had to put up with a lot of practical jokes and ribbing, which he apparently did with a smile and a hearty laugh. “As far as the job, he was top notch,” said his friend and fellow probie Michael Beehler. The guys of Engine 207/Ladder 110 are the “Tillary Street Tigers.” Engine 207 also has the nickname of “The House of Misfit Toys” for all the oddly-shaped specialized apparatus they have in their firehouse.