Inside: Full 9-11 Coverage & Search Emergency Services Victims

NEW YORK (AP) -- Seven firefighters lost in the collapse of the World Trade Center, including a high-ranking member of the department, have been formally declared dead by a court.

On the list was Ray Downey, 63, chief of special operations command and the city's most decorated firefighter.

Downey was an expert on urban search-and-rescue, and led a team of New York City firefighters who responded to the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.

The State Supreme Court of Manhattan has issued 1,721 death certificates for Sept. 11 victims whose remains have not been recovered.

Some families have not applied for death certificates, which are needed to obtain life insurance, process wills and access bank accounts.

Also declared dead by the court Monday were firefighters Vincent Brunton, 43, Patrick Byrne, 39; Thomas J. Farino, 37; Robert Hamilton, 43; Edward J. Rall, 44; and Michael Otten, 42.