Thirteen years ago, Hurricane Sandy became one of the costliest natural disasters in U.S. history. Little did Dan Hamelburg, a firefighter with FDNY Ladder 35 know, it was going to be the spark to his social media account that has amassed over 400,000 followers.
The account, NYCFireWire, includes a Facebook page with more than 298,000 followers, an Instagram page with more than 54,000 followers, an X account with more than 55,000 followers and an app that boasts more than 17,000 users.
The premise of the app is to be the go-to resource for all news and incidents in the fire and emergency services. Since its arrival in 2012, the account has expanded from just covering FDNY to other states that want to be a part of showing everyone what is going on within their city.
“If people send tips in, we notice it and it’s good quality, we'll invite them to help us out,” said Hamelburg.
Hamelburg’s story started in 1996 when he joined as a volunteer for the Long Beach, NY, Fire Department. In 2002, he joined FDNY as a dispatcher and eventually went on to the fire academy. Now, he is a firefighter for Ladder 35 on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.
Fast forward to 2012 when the account started. Hamelburg found himself at home a lot, taking care of his newborn son. He made a Facebook page to post updates on Hurricane Sandy while listening to the radio about what FDNY was responding to. The idea gave him about 100 followers.
The spark happened when Hamelburg just finished working a 24-hour shift, and he was unable to leave the firehouse because the bridges and tunnels were shut down. He was stuck on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, and all the companies were out responding to the disaster.
Hamelburg had the firehouse to himself. Everyone had lost power, but because he was back in the city, his location had power. He decided to listen to the radio and post the devastation as it happened to keep people informed. People were wondering if their houses were okay, what was happening and were getting their updates from Hamelburg and NYCFireWire.
That’s when things erupted. Within an hour or two, he saw his follower top 100,000. From there, Hamelburg organized collections and donations for those who suffered damage from the hurricane.
After gaining popularity, Hamelburg dove into the next step for the account. Since he is very interested in the history of the FDNY, he researched all line-of-duty deaths (LODD) and posted one each day for a year. Little did he know he was connecting with people in a very emotional way.
After one of the LODD posts, a woman reached out thanking him for recognizing and remembering her father. Her father died in the early 80s after he had pulled two kids from a fire. A month after she reached out thanking Hamelburg, one of those he rescued stumbled across NYCFireWire and saw the woman’s comment.
Being able to connect the daughter of the LODDs with one of the kids that her father saved before he passed, gave Hamelburg the insight of what social media can do.
Along with posting the LODDs, Hamelburg started to post promotions, retirements and more, looking into the big picture and background of the FDNY. He wanted to show the family mentality and how they all work together.
Another story that showed Hamelburg the power of social media was when a youngster who was going through cancer treatment would hang out at the local firehouse. They created a hashtag, “#TruckerRides” after his name, Trucker Dukes, and his love for the fire service, to help raise money for him.
Dukes would ride on the apparatus at times, but unfortunately, he passed. NYCFireWire was able to raise over $10,000 to send people that Dukes encountered during his journey to his funeral.
The account kept growing and growing, and Hamelburg wanted a secure way to keep the followers rolling in, in case something happened to the social media outlets. So, he decided to develop an app. The app currently has over 17,000 users, and it has brought in other departments from across the nation.
He encountered growing pains running the account and with the exponential growth in social media these days, Hamelburg began this account before there was a social media policy at the FDNY. The account was originally named “FDNY Incidents,” but since FDNY is a trademark, he had to change it.
He does receive help from two other people, because it is a lot to manage, along with him being an active firefighter. Hamelburg still managed to create a subscription service in addition to the app. With the subscription, you get access to the podcast, premium content and discounts on merchandise.
With the future in mind, Hamelburg is in the process of making a version 2.0 app, hoping to build on an already successful endeavor.
"When I started in 2012, I didn't know I'd be where we are right now," said Hamelburg.
Ryan Baker
Ryan Baker is a writer and associate editor with prior experiences in online and print production. Ryan is an associate editor for Firehouse with a master's degree in sciences of communication from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. He recently completed a year of teaching Intro to Public Speaking at UW-Whitewater, as part of his graduate program. Ryan acquired his bachelor's degree in journalism in 2023 from UW-Whitewater, and operates currently out of Minneapolis, MN. Baker, also writes freelances for the Ultimate Frisbee Association (UFA) in his free time, while also umpiring baseball for various ages across the Twin Cities Metro Area.
