JOE CUNNINGHAM
NY Post Online
Photo Courtesy
NY Post
HAPPIER TIMES:
Timothy Higgins (second from right), who died in the Twin Towers attacks, stands with his firefighting family - brothers Joe (left) and Michael, dad Ed (center) and brother Bob (right).
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October 10, 2001 -- After firefighter Timothy Higgins went missing while saving lives at the World Trade Center, his four brothers - three firefighters and a cop - made a pact that they wouldn't stop searching until he was recovered.
"We told ourselves, ‘We're going to keep digging until we find him or we die trying,' " said his brother Bob, 41, a fire lieutenant. "We wanted to do it for the family, just give Tim some dignity and bring him home."
The brothers knew Timothy might never be found, but they remained positive.
"We knew our chances were slim," said brother Joe, 40, of Ladder Co. 111. "But we made a pact that some member of the Higgins family would be involved in the recovery at all times.
"My father [retired firefighter Ed Higgins] always told us to stick up for each other, and that's what we did."
On Sept. 23, around 9:30 p.m., Joe and his brothers Bob and Michael, 46, who recently retired from Ladder Co. 108 in Williamsburg, took a short break from the search.
It was then that Timothy's body was finally pulled from the debris of the north tower.
The men got a radio call to return to the scene at once.
"When we got there, I saw a body wrapped in an American flag," Bob said. "I looked at Battalion Chief Tommy Richardson and said, ‘What do you got?' He said, ‘This is Tim.'"
Tradition calls for the company to carry their fallen comrades down the hill, but Bob asked if he and his brothers could help.
"As we were taking him down, I thought how lucky we were, and how bad I felt for those who would never feel this kind of closure," said Joe.
The 43-year-old lieutenant from Farmingville, L.I., was laid to rest at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church in Lake Ronkonkoma last Thursday.
He had distinguished himself over a 23-year career, showing valor in emergencies, teaching rookies the ropes and recently reconfiguring the department's SCUBA rescue operations.
Higgins, whom his brothers describe as "the ultimate family man," leaves behind a wife, Caren, 39, two daughters, Catie, 15, and Cody, 13, and son Christopher, 17.
All three firefighter brothers, and the youngest, Matt, 35, a police sergeant at the 112th Precinct in Queens who also aided in the recovery effort, were at the site on the day of the attack.
Bob was at his post in Brooklyn when he saw the first tower fall from his office's seventh-story window. He and some co-workers commandeered a city bus and rushed to the site.
"When we got there, I saw one of the guys who knew my brother. He said he last saw Timmy on the 20th floor, and told him they were evacuating," said Bob. "Timmy said, ‘I know, I'll meet ya, I'll meet ya.' And he and his men all headed straight up the stairs."
Their dad, Ed, 72, spent 32 years in the Fire Department before retiring in 1988 as a captain at Engine Co. 227 in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn.
Joe remembers how their father guided the boys as they followed in his footsteps, and how the whole family took pride in their jobs.
"We felt a little special. It was like ‘Want something done? Call the Higgins brothers,' " Joe said.
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