Located about 3 1/2 miles north of the World Trade Center site, the members of Engine Company 54/Ladder Company 4/Battalion 9 in the Theater District lost 15 of their members in the 9/11 terrorist attacks 25 years ago — the most of any firehouse.
As thousands gathered at the National September 11 Memorial in Lower Manhattan to honor the victims who died in the attacks 25 years ago Friday, the extended family members of the three fire companies, along with fellow firefighters from all over the world, gathered in Midtown to pay tribute to the 15 fallen heroes counted among the 343 FDNY members killed on 9/11.
The service, as it has for years, took place at the Memorial Park at Ritz Plaza, just around the corner from the Engine 54/Ladder 4/Battalion 9 headquarters on 8th Avenue and West 48th Street. As they have done in past years, firefighters tolled a bell for the company members killed on 9/11, displayed flowers and made other tributes to those who made the ultimate sacrifice in running into the World Trade Center when everyone else ran out.
But this year’s milestone anniversary of 9/11 took on a different tone, as retired Firefighter John Fila noted. So many of the current members of Engine 54/Ladder 4/Battalion 9 are among the 100 million Americans today who have no living memory of the attacks.
“We have firefighters in the firehouse that were not born on that day,” Fila said. “What I would hope to explain to everyone is that these people that we lost, they gave themselves, their lives, their service, trying to save other people. And if anyone could take any sliver of accomplishment out of their lives, they could follow in the footsteps of somebody that is so genuine and so pure that their life was disregarded in the protection of others.”
As they have done in past years, firefighters tolled a bell for the company members killed on 9/11, displayed flowers and made other tributes to those who made the ultimate sacrifice in running into the World Trade Center when everyone else ran out.Photo by Dean Moses
Stephen Ragaglia was just 10 years old when he lost his brother, Firefighter Lenny Ragaglia, in the 9/11 attacks. He remembered his late brother as “the guy playing Wiffle ball with us in the front yard of my parents’ house and playing basketball.” Sept. 11, 2001, changed everything for him.
“At 10 years old, you really don’t understand terrorism. You don’t understand sacrifice. You don’t understand how one morning you can change your entire life,” Stephen Ragaglia said. “From the stories that I’ve heard over the years, he was the life of the party, and always made everyone around him. That’s how I remember him-not as a name on the wall, but as my brother. On the morning of September 11th, I was sitting in school. I knew something was going on. I didn’t really know what. And being 10 years old, all I could think about was, ‘Hey, I’m getting out of school early today.’ It sounded pretty good to me. Then I saw my mom come to pick me up, and I could tell she’d been crying.”
Today, Lenny’s children are also firefighters and carrying on their father’s legacy.
Fila, meanwhile, found solace on Friday in the incredible, continued support people from all over the world have for New York’s Bravest, and for the 9/11 victims, in fulfilling a vow to “never forget.”
“Every year around this time, it’s a very difficult time for us, being that it’s a milestone year of 25 years. It’s extraordinary the fact that so many people have come back for it, visiting firefighters from every corner of the globe, friends from Australia and California, New Zealand, and Japan, England,” he said. “It’s a great significance and a great comfort to families.”
But this year’s milestone anniversary of 9/11 took on a different tone, as retired Firefighter John Fila noted. So many of the current members of Engine 54/Ladder 4/Battalion 9 are among the 100 million Americans today who have no living memory of the attacks.Photo by Dean Moses 
Photo by Dean Moses 
Photo by Dean Moses 
Photo by Dean Moses 
Photo by Dean Moses 
Photo by Dean Moses 
Photo by Dean Moses