The FDNY will not change a controversial practice that has some firefighters fuming — honoring those who die of 9/11-related illness on a different memorial wall than those killed while on duty.
The FDNY has two separate walls in the lobby of its Brooklyn headquarters: One prominent display honors members who died “in the line of duty,” including those who perished on 9/11.
A separate wall near the security desk names Bravest who have succumbed to cancer and other illnesses linked to the toxic Ground Zero pit where rescuers toiled.
Some firefighters are angered because the NYPD, in contrast, adds the names of officers who die of 9/11-linked disease to its Wall of Honor along with all cops killed in the line of duty.
But Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro issued a message to members last week saying he sees no reason to change course.
“I respectfully disagree with those who may believe that our members are treated differently than ‘all the other first responders,’” he wrote.
The FDNY does not consider firefighters who succumb to 9/11-related cancers or other ailments “line of duty deaths.” Instead, their deaths are labeled “administrative” line of duty.
To many firefighters sickened after serving at Ground Zero, “it’s insulting,” said John Feal, an advocate for 9/11 first-responders. “Last I checked, these firefighters were heroes,” he said. “We want to get this changed.”
The 9/11 attacks killed 343 FDNY firefighters.
Last September, the FDNY added 17 names to a list of Bravest who have died of 9/11-related illness, bringing the total to 127.
But the total number of all 9/11 responders, including firefighters, who have been diagnosed with WTC-linked cancers now exceeds 5,100, records show.
Late firefighter John MacNamara, who logged 500 hours searching for victims at Ground Zero and died of advanced colon cancer in 2009 at age 41, left a wife
and then two-year-old son, Jack.
His widow, Jennifer Siegel MacNamara, who started a foundation in his honor, has mixed feelings.
“John died in the line of duty, and we all know that,” she told The Post. “Where his name appears on a memorial is not the most important thing.”
In his message, Nigro also said the department will not issue a special citywide “5-5-5-5 radio notification” to honor a member who dies of World Trade
Center sickness.
“We have reserved that profound signal for announcing ‘traditional’ line of duty deaths,” he said.