Brooklyn family lost members to 9/11

BAY RIDGE — THE NYC FIRE DEPARTMENT GATHERED MONDAY MORNING AT ST. PATRICK CHURCH IN BAY RIDGE TO MOURN DEPUTY CHIEF JIM RICHES, who died on Thanksgiving Day from a 9/11-related illness. Chief Riches and his son, firefighter Jimmy Riches Jr., Brooklyn residents, were part of the response and rescue effort in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. Jimmy Riches was killed in the North Tower that day, and Chief Riches personally recovered his son’s remains after a prolonged six-month search. Chief Riches spent almost nine months at Ground Zero, according to a statement sent from James Brosi, president of the Uniformed Fire Officers Association.

The Daily News reported also that Jimmy Riches, normally assigned to Ladder Co. 114 in Sunset Park, was working from Lower Manhattan on 9/11. He would have turned 30 the next day. A street co-naming at the intersection of Shore Parkway and Bay 8th Street in Dyker Heights honors Riches’ memory.

Deputy Chief Riches’ death is the latest in the ongoing deadly toll of exposure to toxins at the World Trade Center. UFOA President Brosi said. “The Riches family has now suffered two line-of-duty deaths from the same attack. We stand with them, and we demand that this city and this country never forget the price our members continue to pay.”

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