He Loved Harleys and Fixing Things
March 29, 2002

An elevator mechanic before joining Ladder Co. 15 in Lower Manhattan eight years ago, Arthur Barry had a machine shop in the basement of the Staten Island home he shared with his parents, Bertrand and Audriene, that would have stoked the envy of most professional machinists, his father said.

Even on the job at his South Street firehouse, Barry was but steps away from his machinery. In fact, Barry - Ladder 15's resident Mr. Fixit - was dropping off a machine at the firehouse around the time of the attacks, his father said. His crew had already left for the blazing skyscrapers when Barry showed up and ran into fellow firefighter Eric Olson. Barry and Olson headed to the World Trade Center on foot, Barry's father said. Officially, both should have been elsewhere. Olson was heading home after completing his overnight tour of duty. Barry, his father said, was on vacation. Barry, 34, Olson, and eight others from Ladder 15 died in the attack.

"He could repair just about any piece of machinery out there and fabricate
parts with them," Bertrand Barry said of his son, the youngest of five
siblings. Barry's talents as a machinist were evident even as a boy, his
father said. Apart from a stint at New York Technical College, Barry had
little if any training as a machinist. But his grandfather, Bertrand Barry,
was a marine engineer, and his mother's father, Arthur Carlin, was a
heavy-equipment engineer.

Barry, who had become the official chauffeur for Ladder 15 not long before
Sept. 11, also had firefighting in his blood. His father was a retired city
fireboat pilot.

A bachelor, Barry was the proud owner of three Harley Davidsons he fussed over as if they were children. He was such a fanatic biker that when a companion he had set out with on a round trip to Alaska decided to ride an aircraft home on the return leg, Barry completed the trip solo. Seems he had plans, however, to make it easier for future travel companions, his father said. He was building a side car for one of his Harleys.

Barry, who was famous for his one-liners, had a sense of humor that was
contagious, his father said. When, for example, he fixed or created something in the firehouse - he once crafted a trolley to wheel around a heavy piece of equipment used by firefighters to extract victims trapped in tight confines - his firehouse buddies would call it "a work of art," his father said. "He was a joy to have around."

--Collin Nash (Newsday)

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