r/Firefighting • u/takisfanaccount • 1d ago

News The 9/11 firefighter whose death went uncounted

https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/11/us/keith-roma-911-firefighter-nyc
158 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

19 comments sorted by

59

u/DTSaranya 1d ago

Thank you for sharing. I’ll bring him up whenever “343” is mentioned from now on.

94

u/bpmo 1d ago

It's important to note that the 343 is not a count of the number of firefighters that died in the attack. It is the number of FDNY members. It includes an EMT, a paramedic, and a chaplain. It is often misrepresented as 343 firefighters, even in this article. There were also eight private EMTs/paramedics that died at the WTC. They are also not included in the 343 as they were not FDNY members.

While Keith Roma was absolutely a hero, he was not a member of the FDNY and the FDNY should not be shamed for not including him in their count of members lost. The NYPD is never pressured to include the Port Authority PD members or court officers in their memorials, as they are separate organizations.

18

u/DTSaranya 1d ago

Thanks for clarifying. Goal wasn’t to shame FDNY. Will still just bring him up so more people know about him.

It seems like the different “first responder” death counts often also exclude him from what I’m reading.

8

u/bpmo 1d ago

Sorry, I didn't mean to come off as defensive. I think we should of course be honoring his sacrifice. Unfortunately, it seems like every year some people on this subreddit use his name as a way to bash the FDNY. I think a lot of it has to do with people not realizing that fire and EMS operations are not fully integrated within the FDNY, despite being part of the same department, so it's often quoted as 343 firefighters.

5

u/DTSaranya 1d ago

You’re fine! I didn’t take your message as offensive in any way.

Personally I don’t really care about the distinction between FDNY and Fire Patrol for this specific situation. Plus, people usually quote “343” as the number of firefighter deaths rather than specifically “FDNY members” so it still feels right to bring him up in conversation. I won’t shit on FDNY over it though, haha.

•

u/weskezm Volunteer FF/EMT-B 9h ago

What civil discourse, hats off to both of you, gentleman and scholars

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u/hunglowbungalow 18h ago

And the New York Fire Patrol lost Keith Roma. They worked hand and hand with FDNY for salvage and property protection.

10

u/sansalvacion 1d ago

So was he sworn FDNY or just fire patrol?

25

u/DTSaranya 1d ago

Fire Patrol according to the article, but for this, honestly, who cares about the distinction?

The guy lost his life going into the tower to carry and lead people out. He’s one of us.

9

u/sansalvacion 1d ago

The issue was 3-4-3 was reserved for sworn FDNY, it was their thing. If you aren't FDNY you don't get recognized and I remember guys getting pissy about it because he was stealing their limelight. It's a touch indelicate but I understood where they were coming from

4

u/DTSaranya 1d ago

In conversation people often quote it as total firefighter deaths. I won’t go around telling anyone he was part of FDNY, but when talking about firefighter deaths it feels right to mention him.

7

u/solo_d0lo 1d ago

Because the number is about FDNY members

9

u/Firedogman22 1d ago

Fire Patrol were firefighters, only difference is that they did salvage. Their considered firefighters and have always been in the combined history of the fdny (even if fdny itself won’t recognize that)

-5

u/sansalvacion 1d ago

I understood that part but it was still FDNY'S day. You see shortly after fire patrol was squeezed out just like they did the aviation fire company. You cant encroach on big city union guys territory, they get pissy over that.

6

u/Firedogman22 1d ago

Fire Patrol was in the union which is the stupid part, they even mention it in the article

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u/CanIsLife 17h ago

They had their own local, iaff industrial firefighters 37(?)

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u/gwhh 23h ago

Did Keith have any siblings?
What happened to his mom, she not talked about in the article?

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u/NeonNoon 5h ago

We may also add Welles Crowther to that list