John James Tipping II He Enjoyed Many Rugged Sports October 14, 2001 Fighting fires didn't scare John Tipping II. It was the thought of not fighting them that terrified him. After passing the department's physical and written exams, Tipping failed the color-blindness test. "He was frightened," said his sister, Maureen Tipping of Port Jefferson Station. "He wanted to get on that department." Although Maureen, a nurse, went down to Ground Zero on Sept. 11 to serve the city as her brother did, she said the job of tutoring John was more frightening. Providing eye-washes for rescue workers was something she knew how to do. But failing to help John was something she feared. If her lessons hadn't been successful, John could not have followed his father, John Tipping, a 37- year veteran, into the department. But he passed the test, joining Manhattan's Ladder 4 in 1995. "It was meant to be," Maureen Tipping said. Vinny Schwarting of Hauppauge, a friend since elementary school, said, "I remember when John would talk about being a New York City firefighter, how his eyes would light up." On Sept. 11, John Tipping's eyes again decided his fate. Out on a call the night before, he suffered a corneal abrasion from debris and returned late, after being treated at a hospital. So he slept at the firehouse instead of commuting to Port Jefferson. He was walking out Ladder 4's door Tuesday morning when he heard the radio and turned around. Another sister, Stephanie Tipping of Hauppauge, said that John, like any dedicated firefighter, wouldn't have had it any other way. --Kathryn Wellin (Newsday)

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