Firefighter
John J. Giordano
Engine 37
Memorial Service was held
on October 2, 2001
Laid
to Rest
on November 3, 2001
After
The Fall: Remembering The Men Of Maspeth By LIZ GOFF
Once
each week, Janice Waters leaves her Glendale home to bring her
husband a cup of coffee. The task itself it not unique – it
is Waters’ destination that makes it an act of enduring love.
This Maspeth Firehouse is home to the FDNY's HAZ MAT Co. 1 and
Squad 288. The units lost a total of 19 men on September 11.
"He always had a cup of coffee in his hand," Janice Waters said.
"There is a story in one of the firehouses where he worked,
about how the men always knew which officer was working by how
much coffee was brewing. He always had two pots brewed," she
said. So each week, Waters – coffee in hand – visits her husband’s
grave, where she leaves the steamy brew for the man she married
almost 20 years ago. Waters’ husband, FDNY Special Operations
Captain Patrick Waters perished on Sept. 11, while helping victims
escape from the south tower of the World Trade Center. Patrick
Waters was one of 19 men from the Maspeth firehouse who rushed
to their deaths on Sept. 11. Queens Haz Mat Co. 1 (which Waters
commanded) and Squad 288 suffered the greatest loss of any firehouse
in New York City when the Twin Towers collapsed. Of the FDNY’s
elite Haz Mat rescue units who raced to the Twin Towers after
the first plane struck, Lieutenant Philip McArdle said. "They
were exceptional people, they worked hard and trained hard and
were, without exception, completely dedicated and committed
to their specialized fields." clockwise: Thomas Gardner, John
Giordano, John Hohmann, Thomas Moody, clockwise: Dennis Carey,
John Crisci, Martin Demeo, John Fanning, clockwise: Dennis Scanso,
Kevin Smith, Pat Waters, The photo to the right of Capt. Waters
shows an angel hovering over an anonymous firefighter and is
a tribute to all lost on Sept. 11 and part of the firehouse’s
memorial to those lost. clockwise: Ronald Kerwin, Adam Rand,
Brian Sweeny, Timothy Welty, clockwise: Peter Brennan, Ronnie
Gies, Joseph Hunter, Johnathan Lelpi. HAZ MAT Co. 1 and Squad
288’s lost heroes. McArdle said it will be "impossible" to replace
those in HAZ MAT and Squad 288 who perished – the "top one percent
of the FDNY’s Haz Mat and counter-terrorism specialists." The
FDNY Haz Mat unit was established in 1982 by then-Mayor Ed Koch.
Men assigned to the citywide response unit initially worked
out of Rescue 4 on Queens Boulevard. In 1984, the FDNY created
Haz Mat Company 1, designated as the City’s sole dedicated hazardous
materials unit. Haz Mat Co. 1 boasted a roster of four officers
and 35 firefighters prior to Sept. 11. Today, there are 24 men
assigned to the unit. McArdle said the bodies of five men from
Haz Mat have not been recovered. "They are either still buried
in the rubble or are among the 15,000 partial remains yet to
be identified," he said. "This house was harder hit than any
other in the city," McArdle said. "Yet we got zero support from
the Fire Department – or any other group or agency. "We pulled
together, and took care of our families and each other. We established
an in-house fund for our families, and with it we took care
of some other houses, as well," he said. "When we most needed
the job to support us – they weren’t there."
Squad
288 Page
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