In Honor Of
Fallen Fire Fighters

3 NYFD Firefighters die in high rise blaze:

Early Friday morning December 18, 1998, tragedy struck the NYC Fire Department for the 3rd time this year. A mere 7 days before Christmas the Red Devil claimed the lives of 3 fire fighters.  At 0454 hours Brooklyn transmitted box 4080 for a top floor fire at 17 Vandalia Avenue in the Starrett City development complex. The sprawling complex is located on Brooklyn's south shore in the Spring
Creek section. The 10 story 50 x 200 fireproof building is used as a senior citizen's residence.

Engine 257 and ladder 170, both quartered in Canarsie, were assigned 1st due and arrived within 4 minutes. By that time the fire already could be seen blowing through two windows. Second and 3rd alarms were quickly transmitted.

As the 1st due ladder company, L170's duty is to search the fire floor. Lieutenant Joseph Cavalieri, and fire fighters Christopher Bopp and James Bohan ascended 10 flights of stairs with extinguishers and forcible entry tools. Their mission was to rescue the resident of apartment 10-D who was believed trapped inside.

Fortunately for the elderly resident she escaped shortly before the forcible entry team arrived. Unfortunately for them, she left the apartment door wide open. The additional oxygen from the hallway fed the inferno within and blew out the windows. The halls were equipped with sprinklers but for reasons unknown to anyone is why they were deactivated.

As the Lieutenant and fire fighters arrived at the door, a sudden change in the wind direction forced an estimated 29-MPH wind gust into the apartment, and a 2,000 degree fireball into the hallway. The 3 men only had enough time to get a Mayday out. The high heat instantly asphyxiated them and burned their masks off of them. Despite the best efforts of the rescue team and EMS, all 3 were pronounced dead at the hospital. Also injured in the fire were 6 other fire fighters and 4 residents. All but 1 are in stable condition at
various hospitals. The most severely injured civilian, the occupant of the fire apartment, is in the hyperbaric unit in Jacoby Hospital in critical condition.

Lieutenant Cavalieri, 42, a resident of Malverne Long Island, is a 15-year veteran and leaves behind a wife and 2 teenaged daughters. Fire fighter Bopp, 27, a Brooklyn native, leaves behind a wife in her 3rd month of pregnancy. Fire fighter Bohan, 25, lived with his parents in Middle Village Queens and had an older brother.

This fire is being called the worst since the Waldbaums fire of August 2, 1978, in which 6 fire fighters lost their lives. This brings the total of fire fighters killed in the line of duty to 780. The cause of the blaze was careless smoking.

To all our Fire Service Brothers and Sisters:
It was a chilly, winter night when I entered the firehouse in which I work at in Canarsie, Brooklyn. When I entered the quarters of Engine 257, Ladder 170, and the 58 Battalion, it was business as usual. There was a lot of happy, smiling faces and of course a great deal of joking around( busting chops) in the kitchen. Some guys were packing up their belongings and heading home to their families, while others, like myself, were reporting for duty for the 6 X9 tour. Due to a surplus in manpower, I would not work with the guys in
L-170 tonight, but instead with guys in L-113 "The Rats". As I walked out the door of Canarsie's Bravest, I never knew that when I said, "Take care guys and have a safe tour," it would be that last time I spoke to Lt. Cavalieri, Chris Bopp and Jimmy Bohan.

At approximately 0434 hrs on the morning of Friday, December 18, 1998, the brothers of E-257, L-170, Bn-58 responded to a phone alarm at 17 Vandalia Ave. Little did they, I, or we know that this would be the last alarm that Joey, Chris and Jimmy, working in L-170, would respond too. The fire seemed
almost routine until something tragic happened. The inside team of L-170 would never return to their firehouse again. I received the call around 7:00 am and I knew something bad had happened. I left the quarters of L-113 and returned to the company that I belonged too, only to find out that three friends were gone, gone forever. The scene was bad, Chiefs, Fire Marshall's, Firemen, Cops and of course, a lot of people in suits that I have never seen before. When I walked into quarters, E-257, L-170, and Bn-58 were not there. I knew the news was not good. Engine 225, and Squad 252 were in front of quarters and a lot of guys were hugging and crying. After a few minutes, I learned that three members of LADDER 170 were gone. Their shoes were still scattered on the apparatus floor only never to be filled again, and the riding position board displayed their names and positions. The pain and sorrow that the men of E-257, L-170 and the BN-58 share along with the brothers in E-262 ( where Bohan was assigned) and L-150(where Cavalieri was
promoted from) is unexplainable. This "Black Friday", December 19, 1998 will never be forgotten and neither will LT. Joseph Cavalieri, FF Christopher Bopp, and FF James Bohan (assigned E-262). These three
brothers and friends, were true heroes who laid their lives down for the people of the City of New York.

Please say a prayer for Joey, Chris, and Jimmy, who were taken from us, and for Frank Nastro(L-170) , John Adinolfi(L-170), Lt. Young(E-257), Charles Murphy (E-257) Al Trapanese(E-257) Mike Ryan #2(E-257), Jack Paglino(E-257), The officers and members of E-290, L-103, and Squad 252
who tried everything possible, myself for should have been there, and of course to all of the brothers, cops, and EMS personnel that responded to Third Alarm Box-5-5-5-5-4080 at 17 Vandalia Ave in Brooklyn, NY on "Black Friday" December 18, 1998.

PLEASE SAY A PRAYER AND PASS THIS ON.

Timothy Wodicka L-170 FDNY

Georgia Volunteer Dies Battling Church Fire
Four Others Injured

Story Updated: January 2, 1999 – 11:59 PM

FHnews – Volunteer firefighter Kennan Loy Williams, 27, a district captain with the Banks County Volunteer Fire Department in Georgia, was killed late New Year's Eve while battling a fire at the historic New Salem United Methodist Church.

He died when the roof of the 100+ year-old building collapsed about 45 minutes into the blaze, which was reported at about 9:30 p.m. Four other firefighters were injured, none reported critical. Williams leaves behind a wife, a 9-year-old daughter and a brother, who is also a firefighter and was on the scene at the time of the tragedy.

The FBI/ATF Arson Task Force is investigating the blaze as arson. A second church fire in nearby Oconee County was reported just hours later and accerlerants were suspected. There have been five church fires in the region in the last two weeks. The suspect(s) in the blaze that claimed Williams' life will be charged with murder, officials said.

Arrangements for Capt. Williams are being handled by the McGahee-Griffin Funeral Home, 459 North Main St, Cornelia, Ga. Viewing & visitation is today (Saturday) at the funeral home from 14:00 to 16:00 and 19:00 to 21:00 Hours.

The funeral will be 14:00 hours Sunday, January 3rd at the New Holiness Congregational Church in Alto, Ga.

Tentatively scheduled: A procession from the Square in Cornelia to the church, and then to the cemetery, less than 1/2 mile from church.

Per Georgia Mutual Aid Group (GMAG) Duty Officer

Page Updated on:  Thursday, December 27, 2001