The FDNY hit a new and tragic milestone over the weekend regarding 9/11 deaths among members, 22 years after the attacks on the World Trade Center.
According to the department, 343 members have died from illnesses related to the Sept. 11 attacks, as hundreds have been diagnosed with ailments that they've been battling in the two decades since the terrorist attacks.
EMT Hilda Vannata died of cancer on Sept. 20, and retired firefighter Robert Fulco died Saturday from pulmonary fibrosis. Their deaths, just like 341 before them, came as a result of the rescue and recovery efforts at Ground Zero.
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Why is the number 343 significant? That's the same number of department members killed on the day of the attacks itself.
"We have long known this day was coming, yet its reality is astounding just the same," FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh. "With these deaths, we have reached a somber, remarkable milestone. We have now suffered the same number of deaths post September 11th as we experienced that day when the north and south towers fell. Our hearts break for the families of these members, and all who loved them."
Kavanagh said there are 11,000 members of the department who suffer from 9/11-related illnesses, including 3,500 with cancer.
The firefighters union said that more members are being diagnosed each day, and there needs to be funding in place in order to properly help them.
"We asked for over $2 billion last year we got $600 million," said James Brosi, president of the FDNY Uniformed Fire Officers Association.
"We need to push for more people to get checked out but also to get enrolled and have that funding there to make sure everyone effected by this can get taken care of," said Andrew Ansbro, the president of the FDNY Uniformed Firefighters Association of Greater New York.
There is a bipartisan push for the Senate-passed amendment cosponsored by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand to help address the funding shortfall in the World Trade Center health program, which is for anyone who was exposed — not just first responders.
"I don't know what else someone could do for another, and then be left behind or forgotten or be told that the bill is just too high," said Brosi. "We are a family we take care of our family but sometimes unfortunately we have to go down to Washington to remind everyone else that they also made a promise."
