A Personal Account
Editor's Note: This account by a member of Ladder 170 is a touching personal story distributed via e-mail
Timothy Wodicka
L-170 FDNY
To all our Fire Service Brothers and Sisters:
It was a chilly, winter night when I entered the firehouse in which I
work at
in Canarsie, Brooklyn. When I entered the quarters of Engine 257,
Ladder
170, and the 58 Battalion, it was business as usual. There was a lot of
happy,
smiling faces and of course a great deal of joking around (busting
chops) in
the kitchen. Some guys were packing up their belongings and heading
home to their families, while others, like myself, were reporting for
duty for the 6 X
9 tour. Due to a surplus in manpower, I would not work with the guys in
L-170
tonight, but instead with guys in L-113 "The Rats". As I walked out the
door
of Canarsie's Bravest, I never knew that when I said, "Take care guys
and have
a safe tour," it would be that last time I spoke to Lt. Cavalieri, Chris
Bopp
and Jimmy Bohan.
At approximately 0434 hrs on the morning of Friday, December 18, 1998,
the
brothers of E-257, L-170, Bn-58 responed to a phone alarm at 17 Vandalia
Ave. Little did they, I, or we know that this would be the last alarm
that Joey,
Chris and Jimmy, working in L-170, would respond too. The fire seemed
almost routine until something tragic happened. The inside team of
L-170 would never return to their firehouse again. I recieved the call
around 7:00 am and I knew something bad had happened. I left the
quarters of L-113 and returned to the company that I belonged too, only
to find out that three friends were gone, gone forever. The scene was
bad, Chiefs, Fire Marshalls, Firemen, Cops and of course, a lot of
people in suits that I have never seen before. When I walked into
quarters, E-257, L-170, and Bn-58 were not there. I knew the news was
not good. Engine 225, and Squad 252 were in front of quarters and a lot
of guys were hugging and crying. After a few minutes, I learned that
three members of LADDER 170 were gone. Their shoes were still scattered
on the apparatus floor only never to be filled again, and the riding
position board displayed their names and positions. The pain and sorrow
that the men of E-257, L-170 and the BN-58 share along with the brothers
in E-262 ( where Bohan was assigned) and L-150(where Cavalieri was
promoted from) is unexplainable. This "Black Friday", December 19, 1998
will never be forgotten and neither will LT. Joseph Cavalieri, FF
Christopher Bopp, and FF James Bohan (assigned E-262). These three
brothers and friends, were true heroes who layed their lives down for
the people of the City of New York.
Please say a prayer for Joey, Chris, and Jimmy, who were taken from us,
and
for Frank Nastro(L-170) , John Adinolfi(L-170), Lt Young(E-257), Charles
Murphy (E-257) Al Trapanese(E-257) Mike Ryan #2(E-257), Jack
Paglino(E-257), The officers and members of E-290, L-103, and Squad 252
who tried everything possible, myself for should have been there, and of
course to all of the brothers, cops, and EMS personel that responded to
Third Alarm Box-5-5-5-5-4080 at 17 Vandalia Ave in Brooklyn, NY on
"Black Friday" December 18, 1998.
PLEASE SAY A PRAYER AND PASS THIS ON.
