Former FDNY Deputy Chief Jim Riches, a well-known advocate for September 11th first responders and a longtime member of the FDNY, will be laid to rest Monday in Brooklyn.
Riches died on Thanksgiving from a 9/11-related illness attributed to toxic dust exposure at the World Trade Center, according to the FDNY’s Uniformed Fire Officers Association. He was 74.
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Former FDNY Deputy Chief Jim Riches, a well-known advocate for September 11th first responders and a longtime member of the FDNY, will be laid to rest Monday
He died on Thanksgiving from a 9/11-related illness attributed to toxic dust exposure at the World Trade Center; he was 74
The 30-year veteran of the department spent months at Ground Zero and personally recovered his son’s body
The union said Riches spent months at Ground Zero after the attacks, driven in part by his search for the remains of his son, Firefighter Jimmy Riches Jr., who was killed in the North Tower.
Riches personally recovered his son’s body during the recovery operation. He retired from the department in 2007 after 30 years in service.
The union noted that Riches’ death is part of the growing toll linked to World Trade Center exposure, saying more than 400 FDNY members have now died from 9/11-related illnesses, a number that surpasses the 343 firefighters killed on the day of the attacks.
“Deputy Chief Jim Riches devoted his entire life to the FDNY and to the people of New York City,” UFOA President James Brosi said in a statement. “After losing his son on 9/11, he spent months on the pile breathing the same toxins that have now taken his own life. His passing is a devastating reminder that 9/11 continues to kill our members more than two decades later.”
His funeral will be held at 11 a.m. Monday at St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church in Bay Ridge.