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.

 

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