Captain
Daniel Brethel
Ladder 24
Laid to Rest
on September 17, 2001
A Day at Disney World
Daniel
Brethel, captain of Ladder 24 on West 31st Street in Manhattan, had had
some close
calls: His neck and ears had been burned when he was holding
his helmet over an injured firefighter who was lying on the street; once
he had required a skin graft. Arriving at the World Trade Center after both
jets had hit, he shouted a warning to his men: "Guys, be very careful, because
firemen are going to die today." He had been off duty at 9 a.m. His wife,
Carol, hearing about the attack at their home in Farmingdale, hoped he was
already on the train and knew nothing about it. On Tuesday night, they came
to the house and told her they had found his body. Captain Brethel, 43, had
grabbed one of his men as a building started to collapse. They dived under
a firetruck. Both were crushed. On Wednesday, Ms. Brethel went to her husband's
firehouse to empty Captain Brethel's locker. Theirs is a large, close family.
In April, all the brothers and sisters and their children, 19 Brethels, went
to Disney World, waiting until it was close to closing time so they could
ride Thunder Mountain together. This week, at least a dozen Brethels, including
Captain Brethel's children, who are 12 and 14, accompanied his wife to the
firehouse. While Ms. Brethel closed the locker room door behind her, the
firefighters told stories about their captain and the children had a chance
to see the people stopping by and the flowers they had left. And that was
good, said Mr. Brethel's sister, Loretta. Profile published in THE NEW YORK
TIMES on September 22, 2001.
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New York Relief.com Article