Copyright 2006 Newsday, Inc.
BY HERBERT LOWE
Newsday (New York)
NEW YORK — After tributes from the mayor, the fire commissioner, a union leader and others yesterday in memory of Firefighter Richard Sclafani, his sister spoke of the fullness of his life cut short all too soon.
“It’s been a year and a day since we lost you and we will never be the same,” JoAnn Sclafani-Asch said at a plaque dedication ceremony for her brother at the Engine Co. 290 and Ladder Co. 103 firehouse in East New York.
With her mother, Joan Sclafani, standing beside her, Sclafani-Asch, 34, paused for a long moment to compose herself before continuing, as hundreds of firefighters, friends and relatives looked on.
“When I look back at my brother,” she said. Then after pausing for another long moment, she added, “I think of such a beautiful part of my life.”
Sclafani, 37, a Staten Island resident who had worked at his firehouse since 2000, died in the basement of a Jerome Street house trying to rescue children from a blaze on Jan. 23, 2005. His mother said the fire department believes her son might have died of carbon monoxide fumes after his mask fell off, or he bumped into a fellow firefighter and fell down the stairs, where he was knocked unconscious.
On Monday, hundreds of firefighters, friends and relatives had crowded Engine Co. 46 and Ladder Co. 27 house to honor the memories of Fire Lts. Curtis Meyran, 46, of Malverne, and John Bellew, 37, of Pearl River, two men with a quarter-century of firefighting experience between them.
Just hours before Sclafani was killed, Meyran and Bellew were searching a burning Bronx building for trapped residents when they and four other firefighters were trapped and forced to jump out the rear windows. The other firefighters survived.
Soon, a street sign will be placed in Sclafani’s honor at the corner of 49th Street and 30th Avenue in Astoria, where he grew up.
“The plaque we unveil today will forever honor Richie’s bravery and commitment to the department and our city,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg said at the dedication ceremony. “Today and every day, we will remember his sacrifice and honor his memory.”