Michael Fiore, 46, firefighter, basketball player and coach.

He was named MVP of his local league 4 times Date of Death 9/11/2001 By Kathryn Carse Advance staff writer Wednesday, 10/24/2001 A calm zone surrounded Michael C. Fiore in everything he did. Even at his most intense -- on the basketball court and on the job -- he had a quiet way of getting things done. At home, he made time for each of his three children to have a special relationship with him. Decorated three times, the 46-year-old firefighter began his career with Ladder Co. 24, Manhattan, in 1982. He transferred to Rescue Co. 5, Concord, in 1990. In May, he was written up for a citation for helping to rescue a worker who fell unconscious into an oil barge in Port Richmond. "No matter what the job was, Mike never got excited," said Firefighter Don Dillon of Rescue 5. "Whatever we were doing, we were able to follow through on that. He took everything the same way -- never changed his composure." He chose his spots for moving quickly. Mr. Fiore was working a 24-hour shift on Sept. 11 when the call came for the fire at the World Trade Center. He was the chauffeur on the run from the Clove Road station house to Lower Manhattan. The battered truck returned to the station house the next day without its driver and 10 passengers. It is believed that most of the men were near the base of Tower 2, assisting in the evacuation, when the burning building collapsed. The Fiore children -- Jessica, 16, Cristen, 13, and Michael, 11 -- reflected on the life their father shared with them and said, "Some people spend their whole lives looking for someone with all the good qualities that our father had. He was given to us." Mr. Fiore and his wife, the former Charlene Kirk, met in 1976 when he was playing for the basketball team of the 666 Club, a former West Brighton tavern. Mrs. Fiore caught on quickly that the way to see more of him was to go to his basketball games, where she occupied herself by keeping the scorebook. With their children growing, the couple extended those roles: While Mr. Fiore coached Cristen's team at Notre Dame Academy Elementary School, Mrs. Fiore continued keeping the scorebook, Michael kept the clock and Jessica worked the snack bar. Mr. Fiore was also a popular coach in the YMCA Knicks league, where his son and daughter played, and coached the St. Joseph by-the-Sea High School boys junior varsity basketball team from 1982 to 1984. Sister Rose Galligan, Notre Dame Academy's elementary principal, recalled Mr. Fiore's dedication to coaching the team for three years. "Mike is so precious to us. He was like a father figure to the girls. They are really hurting because their Mike is gone." Mr. Fiore's lifelong passion for basketball began when he was 7 years old, in the Sacred Heart Spartan League. He played four years for St. Peter's Boys High School, where he earned an academic/basketball scholarship to St. Joseph's College in Portland, Maine. Since 1985, he had played for the Fire Department's All Star Team, an elite team that traveled all over the world to participate in the Police/Fire Olympics. He visited California, Colorado, Indiana, Tennessee, Canada and Sweden with the team over the years. The team was "always going for the gold" and the excuse was they never got it "because our wives wouldn't let us go back," said teammate Steve Rossiter of the team's elusive goal. Mr. Fiore's contributions on court earned him four MVP awards in the Staten Island FDNY Basketball League. His team won seven Staten Island championships. "You could always count on Mike, he made every game, because he loved to play basketball, that is why he was everyone's teammate," said Lt. Denis Driscoll, director of the Staten Island league. "He was my favorite teammate." Mr. Fiore also played with the Jersey Shore Pro, Staten Island Men's Unlimited, YMCA, Goodhue and Berry Houses leagues. He was also a familiar figure on class trips and at activities at Our Saviour Lutheran Church, West Brighton, where he helped his wife with the Christmas pageant and the Halloween party. Born in Newark, N.J., Mr. Fiore was brought to the Island when he was a year old. His family lived in Clifton briefly before settling in West Brighton, where his parents have lived for 43 years. When he married in 1982, Mr. Fiore moved to Great Kills. In 1984, the couple lived in Westerleigh for a year before moving to Randall Manor in 1985. He attended PS 45 and Prall Intermediate School, both West Brighton. Graduating from St. Peter's in 1973, he attended St. Joseph's College until his junior year, when he transferred to Wagner College, where he earned a bachelor's degree in business. Mr. Fiore worked as an insurance broker for the former General Adjustment Bureau on Staten Island for five years before joining the Fire Department in 1982. Among his many childhood activities were Cub and Boy Scouts, Little League baseball and judo, where he earned a brown belt. He took flying lessons as a senior in high school and soloed in a Cessna 180 airplane. He enjoyed many vacations on Long Beach Island, N.J., and trips to Hawaii with his family and mother-in-law, Violet Kirk. This summer was spent looking at colleges with his daughter, Jessica. Mr. Fiore was a member of the FDNY Columbia Association and the Holy Name Society. Basketball may have dominated his life, but as Mr. Rossiter said, "The friendships we all had and kept were even more important." "He just liked people. He was very quiet, very low-key, but always there for everyone," said his mother, Madeline Fiore. "He was the nicest person I ever met," his wife said. In addition to his wife, Charlene; his son, Michael; his two daughters, Jessica and Cristen, and his mother, Madeline, surviving are his father, Michael, and his sister, Linda Fiore. A memorial service is scheduled for Saturday at 11 a.m. in Our Saviour Church. The arrangements are being handled by the Harmon Home for Funerals, West Brighton.

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