09/11/2026
On September 11, 2001, the FDNY responded to the World Trade Center with an unprecedented mobilization.
A total of 121 engine companies and 62 ladder companies were deployed to the World Trade Center, along with fire officers and specialized personnel.
All off-duty firefighters were recalled as the department mobilized its available resources to respond to the unfolding disaster.
In the end, 343 FDNY members were ki*led that day. The losses reached every level of the department, including Chief of Department Peter J. Ganci Jr., First Deputy Commissioner William M. Feehan, assistant chiefs, fire marshals, chaplains and members of numerous fire companies.
The department’s losses were spread across 75 firehouses, with at least one member ki*led from each.
Entire companies lost multiple members. Families lost fathers, sons, brothers and husbands. The FDNY lost colleagues who had run toward the danger while millions of others were trying to escape it.
And the sacrifice did not end on September 11. Hundreds of FDNY members have since di*d from illnesses linked to their work at the World Trade Center site, with the department continuing to add their names to its memorial.
Artwork credit: Casey Wayne DeRosa
