NY Daily News – April 26, 2015
There is no count of all the lives saved by the New York City Fire Department through its 150 years of bravery.
There is a count of the lives that were lost by FDNY members as they fought to save others since the department was founded in 1865. The toll stands at 1,143.
The two numbers, one never to be known, the other known all too painfully, are the ultimate symbols of how valiantly America’s largest fire-fighting force has served its citizenry over the last century and a half.
At this milestone in the FDNY’s storied history, the Daily News stands in salute, confident that all of New York joins in expressing gratitude that, for so long, so many men and women have answered the call, rushing into danger while others flee.
The record inspires awe.
No one doubts that the FDNY will race when summoned.
No one doubts that the FNDY will offer aid, comfort and rescue to anyone in need, regardless of who they might be or what they might look like.
No one doubts that the FDNY’s 10,200 firefighters and 3,600 emergency medical personnel are heroes in waiting.
The exploits have been legion.
You see them in a photo of a firefighter in bunker gear cradling a seemingly lifeless infant in desperate but gentle mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
You hear them in a report about a firefighter who crawled through flames to make sure no one was left in a burning apartment.
You watch them on television as small figures atop a tower ladder struggle to pull a trapped man or woman to safety.
And you suffer to remember that so many hundreds ran into the two doomed towers on the department’s worst day, 343 of them never to return to their quarters, their friends, their families.
You also suffer to know that 9/11-related illnesses have since then killed 106 FDNY members while 900 more have lingering sicknesses.
Before the FDNY, independent volunteer companies served individual areas of the growing city. After establishment of the FDNY by act of the Legislature, a professional force took over, unified in bravery and beginning the long transformation into the modern force of the modern city.
Reflecting New York’s evolution, the journey was not always smooth. Efforts to open the department to blacks took decades and are only now showing progress. Women were barred for far too long.
But, always focused on protection, the department left behind horse-drawn pumpers early in the 20th century and is now incorporating high tech into its work. Along the way, it dramatically reduced fire fatalities. In the modern era, those peaked at 300 annually in the 1970s and stood at 80 last year.
The FDNY also now keeps a numerical tally of its life-saving labors. In 2014, the count ran to 50,768 civilians saved or rescued, including 39,455 freed from stalled elevators, 364 extricated from car wrecks, 202 pulled out of the water or away from carbon monoxide and 310 brought to safety from building fires.
Happy birthday, FDNY, and long may you prosper. We have no gift for you. Instead, you are a gift to New York.
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