Biographical Info
Age: 45
Additional Info: Neglia, who helped search the rubble for survivors on Sept. 11, 2001, was set to join the Chicago contingent on Saturday's memorial ride to Ground Zero.
Incident Details
Cause of Death: Someone erroneously reported people trapped on the second floor, and when Neglia got there the room erupted in flames.
Date of Incident: September 8, 2006
By Mark J. Konkol
Chicago Sun Times
Copyright 2006 Chicago Sun-Times, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
NEW YORK CITY — When terrorists struck America five years ago today, the heroes of the day lived up to the firehouse cliche — as people rushed out of the World Trade Center, they rushed in.
And 343 New York firefighters gave their lives for it.
For the Chicago firefighters making a motorcycle pilgrimage to Ground Zero, honoring the memory of their fallen brothers was their main focus.
And they weren't alone. Men and women from fire departments all over the country were in New York this week for the same reason.
North Hudson, N.J., firefighters Brian Boele and his pal Vincent Neglia, who both helped search the rubble for survivors on Sept. 11, 2001, were set to join the Chicago contingent on Saturday's memorial ride to Ground Zero.
But they never made it.
Early Friday, people were rushing out of a burning apartment building in Union City, N.J., and Neglia rushed in. Someone erroneously reported people trapped on the second floor, and when the 45-year-old veteran firefighter got there the room erupted in flames.
Neglia died.
Boele called the ride organizer, Chicago Fire Department Lt. Tom Maloney, with the horrible news.
As Maloney talked about it, a tear trailed down his cheek.
"I talked to this guy a week ago . . . he really wanted to be here. It's what we do for a living, we put our lives on the line. And that's what Vinny Neglia did," he said. "It's just so ironic that we are here . . . and Vinny got killed in the line of duty."
The 'brother' he never met
Maloney straightened his back, wiped the wetness from his face and talked about the "brother" he never got the chance to meet.
"He was just a guy doing what he loved to do, being a fireman."
Both Neglia and Boele were founders of the New Jersey chapter of the American Firefighters Motorcycle club, which Maloney started from Chicago a year after the Twin Towers fell.
With all the stress and emotion of the death of his pal and the anniversary of the attacks, Boele needed to get away from things at his firehouse and get some peace -- the kind that's found with the wind in your face.
So he contacted Maloney.
"I just need to get on the bike with my wife and these guys and have a feeling like life goes on and have a
remembrance. To be with guys who understand," he said.
Maloney knew a day like this would come — when a member of the motorcycle club would get killed on the job.
"It's a risk and hazard of the job." Maloney said. "And I've wondered, 'How am I gonna handle this?' "
So when he met Boele for the first time, Maloney hugged him and called him "brother."
'We have common bond'
With his wife, Elizabeth, on the back of his white Harley-Davidson, Boele joined the guys from Chicago, Seattle and Milwaukee in a ride to Ground Zero. As they zoomed through the Lincoln Tunnel, he found comfort.
"We have a common bond. You immediately cut through all the crap; you know these guys. You know where they've been. You've walked in their shoes," Boele said.
Over beers at O'Malley's, around the corner from the humongous hole in Manhattan, they talked about their loves: fighting fires, Harley-Davidsons and the horror of digging through the pile for survivors at Ground Zero.
"It's not just a motorcycle thing we have. It's the matter of a brotherhood. . . . What we have is a trusting relationship as a firefighter," Maloney said.
"We all have the same values and ride the same motorcycles. We're there for him."
The group spent the day together, grabbing a burger at another bar, this one in the East Village, and watching the Chicago Bears trump the Green Bay Packers.
Sunday afternoon, Boele said, gave him a little more strength to handle today's memorial for the victims of terror and his buddy's funeral later this week.
"Me and my wife are gonna go home in real good moods in the face of tragedy. These guys are support," he said.
"It makes it easier . . . This extended family I have, the fire department makes it all easier, dealing with 9/11 and guys who died."
