Deceased Firefighters

Lt. Curtis W. Meyran PHOTO: FDNY Photo Archive

Firefighter John G. Bellew PHOTO: FDNY Photo Archive

By Sean Leahy and Wale Fatade

he Jan. 23 tragedy was the first time the absence of the personal ropes had been a factor in a firefighter’s death since their elimination.  The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, in which 343 firefighters died, pushed the need for personal ropes further down the list of priorities as funds were redirected to replace the department’s radio system and conduct terrorist response training.  A tightening city budget and the closing of fire companies also distracted department and union leaders from concentrating on personal ropes.

The compact nature of the city’s housing makes personal safety ropes especially valuable in New York.  The fire where Bellew and Meyran died was in the rear of a building on a dense block with neighboring structures just feet from each wall.  “In the Bronx in larger multiple dwellings,” said Gorman, “it’s very difficult [to get ladders] to the backs or the sides of those buildings.”  Where in other places a fire truck’s ladder reaches stranded individuals, in New York personal safety ropes can often be firefighters’ only safe means of fleeing. 

Memorial to Bellew, Meyran and a third firefighter, Richard Sclafani, who died in a separate fire the same day outside the site of the deadly Bronx fire.

PHOTO: Wale Fatade

Some firefighters recognized the value of the ropes and bought their own after the department stopped issuing them.  Gorman said many firefighters have bought mountain climbing ropes to keep with their equipment, but said firefighters need their own ropes specially made for firefighting conditions.  “What works for mountain climbers doesn’t work for firefighters,” he added.

After the deadly blaze, Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta ordered the department to identify new ropes that can be issued to firefighters.  Loughran said the department wants the new ropes to be as light and unobtrusive as possible to firefighters.  Noting that the department’s reasoning for eliminating them in 2000 was their bulk, he said he does not want to add to the 80 pounds of equipment firefighters already carry.

“We’re moving forward and looking to acquire the ropes as quickly as possible,” he said and added that the commissioner plans to ask the city’s comptroller to issue an emergency contract for the ropes when a decision is made.  “We’re looking to do it right.”

Loughran did not have estimates on how much the new ropes would cost.  Gorman guessed it would cost about $2.8 million to outfit the department’s 11,200 firefighters with the ropes.

Gorman said it is money well spent for the return firefighters get from the system.  He estimated that the personal ropes had been used 40 times in the 10 years before they were eliminated.  While acknowledging that a firefighter might sometimes panic and deploy the rope in a situation that is not life-threatening, he said it is better to be safe than sorry.  “Even if one fourth of the times it was used were life-threatening [and] would have saved a life,” he said, “that’s 10 people.” <<BACK * MORE>>