JOHN J. MONAHAN
Reprinted with permission of Worcester Telegram & Gazette

About 180 Worcester area firefighters stood outside two Long Island churches yesterday, shoulder-to-shoulder with counterparts from throughout the country to offer a final salute to two of the three men killed in an explosion and fire in a Queens hardware store on Father's Day.

The Central Massachusetts contingent was 180 miles from home and 18 months beyond the horrific warehouse fire that claimed the lives of six Worcester firefighters on Dec. 3, 1999. For many of them, the scenario was all too familiar, and they knew full well the grief and hardship confronting the victims' families and colleagues on the New York City Fire Department.

"I know what they are going through," said Worcester Firefighter Jeffrey T. Plante. He is assigned to Rescue Co. 1, which lost two members of its unit in the Worcester fire, Paul A. Brotherton and Jeremiah M. Lucey.

As the flag-draped coffin carrying the body of Firefighter Harry Ford atop Rescue 4 approached, Mr. Plante said he hoped the extraordinary sight of 10,000 firefighters lining the route, six deep, at attention with their hands to their foreheads, would comfort Mr. Ford's family.

"They will come through this," Fire- fighter Plante said. "They will see a sea of blue and know everybody is here for them. Hopefully it will help them."

The words said in tribute to the fallen New York City firefighters also had a familiar ring to the Worcester contingent.

"We will never be the same," New York City Firefighter Paul Mendoza said of the loss of Mr. Ford and Brian Fahey. "Harry and Brian had to work that day, and now they are not getting to see their kids."

Firefighter Mendoza, who also is assigned to Rescue Co. 4, said there was no anger toward the two youths blamed for starting the fire. They allegedly tipped over a can of gasoline that leaked into a hardware store basement and started the fire.

Mr. Mendoza recalled the desperate efforts to dig Firefighter Fahey out of the rubble of the collapsed building. "You never know who it is going to happen to," he said.

The firefighters from Worcester and more than a dozen other area communities rose before dawn yesterday, most carrying dress blue uniforms on hangers, as they climbed onto three buses headed for the funerals in Long Island churches.

After Mr. Ford's funeral, they moved along with 10,000 others to Mr. Fahey's funeral, seven miles away, to repeat the tribute. Services for the third firefighter, John Downing from Ladder Company 163, will be today.

For the Worcester firefighters, the symbols -- empty boots, coveralls and helmets strapped to the front of the Rescue 4 truck; Red Cross hospitality tables; the Emerald Society Bagpipe Band marching to "Amazing Grace"; a soloist singing "Danny Boy" -- all recalled the six funerals and the massive memorial service held in Worcester just before Christmas 1999.

"It certainly brings you back, especially for us in that really deep-in-the-heart way," said Worcester District Chief Michael O. McNamee.

"My heart goes out to them," he added. "They have a rough road ahead of them. A lot of the guys in Worcester are still walking a rough road. We are all changed forever. They are going to go down the same roads."

There were many similarities between the New York and Worcester fires, he said.

On Sunday afternoon New York City firefighters went to what initially was a routine, smoky fire in a two-story hardware store. About 20 minutes after they arrived, a tremendous explosion of propane and other flammable materials stored in the basement rocked the building. It knocked scores of firefighters and rescue workers to the ground and many were trapped in the rubble of the collapsing brick walls and roof.

Fifty-eight fire personnel were injured. Two firefighters remained hospitalized yesterday with serious injuries.

"They were operating at this fire for 20 minutes when it happened. It sounds very familiar," Deputy Chief McNamee said.

"We were there about 20 minutes when things went bad for us," he recalled of the Worcester Cold Storage and Warehouse Co. building fire. "There was an explosion and they never saw it coming.

"And when it came, it was devastating."

Another haunting similarity, he said, was the desperate effort to rescue firefighters, particularly Firefighter Fahey, who was trapped in the basement as co-workers, scrambled in vain to get through the debris. In Worcester, firefighters repeatedly entered the six-story warehouse engulfed in flames, searching for the firefighters who had radioed for help and were trapped inside.

"Fahey, the one who was in the cellar, they listened to him on the radio calling for help. He stayed calm, telling them where he was. The frustration of not being able to get to him, that's the hardest thing," Deputy Chief McNamee said.

New York City Fire Commissioner Thomas Von Essen recalled the rescue attempts at one of the funerals yesterday. "As the tragic search proceeded, every firefighter on the scene used every last bit of strength to try to find them," he said.

The commissioner recited Firefighter Ford's numerous acts of heroism during his 27-year career, including rescuing a baby in crib in a burning building; saving 10 people from a fire he arrived at while he was off-duty; and running barefoot into a burning building to carry out an invalid person trapped inside.

"We kept thinking, 'If I was in there, I would want Harry to come look for me,' " the commissioner said.

New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani delivered a eulogy for Firefighter Ford.

"When a firefighter falls in the line of duty, New York City stops because there is no group of people more respected in our city, our state and the country than firefighters," he said. "We understand they are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice because of their love for other people.

"This is a tragedy that reverberates in the soul of our city. I don't think I will ever forget seeing Mr. Ford kiss his son goodbye on Father's Day."

Worcester Fire Lt. Edward Ryan spoke of the feelings he had arriving at the massive gathering outside St. Ignatius Martyr Church in Long Beach.

"We never thought it could happen to us, and it happened to us in a big way. We've only seen the tip of the iceberg in Worcester 18 months later," he said of the lasting impact of that tragedy here.

"I can't even imagine what these people are going through. It was just a fire in a store. You never know," he said.

He said that he and other firefighters will make sure the families of the three New York firefighters will not be left alone or forgotten. "Knowing they were appreciated is more important to these families than anyone can imagine."

At the end of Mr. Ford's funeral, those in the church and lined up outside listening to loud speakers erupted in a shower of applause to let the families know how much their lost ones were loved.

"They are going through a wide range of issues right now," said Lt. David N. Halvorsen, another member of Worcester's Rescue Co. 1. "But it's certain their fellow brothers on the New York City Fire Department and the International Brotherhood of Fire Fighters will be behind their families 100 percent, and they will always be part of the firefighter family."

He said the outpouring of care and support from firefighters and the public was a tremendous help in the Worcester tragedy.

"I knew the firefighters would be there," he said. "But the city of Worcester itself, the citizens. It was unbelievable. That is something I will never forget," he said.