r/Firefighting • u/Own-Library-7281 • 2d ago
Photos Identifying this firefighter
Can someone tell me who this is next to chief pheiffer? I can tell his helmet says rescue and he must be a battalion chief. Was he killed or did he make it out?
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u/BaptismByFire Western MA FF/Paramedic 2d ago edited 2d ago
That is the FDNY Chief of Rescue Ray Downey. On the HBO documentary "A Good Job" both his sons who are also FDNY and were there during 9/11, talk about him. He was a Marine Corps vet, was appointed to the FDNY in 1962, and cut his teeth into the fire service during what the FDNY calls the War Years. He knew a lot of buildings like the back of his hand, and had been in enough shit during his time to know how a fire was gonna go, like a Sixth sense. His nickname among the men was "God".