 JAMES CORRIGAN:Memorial service today. |
October 13, 2001 -- They do not receive inspectors funerals, but they died as heroes helping the many thousands who lived.
They were fire and safety officers working at the World Trade Center Sept. 11.
These people put duty above personal safety, leading trapped employees out of harm's way and pointing the way for arriving emergency crews to do the same.
James Corrigan, the head trade-center fire marshal, and a cadre of fire-safety directors led scores of children out of day-care facilities and led adults down stairwells to safety before they died in the disaster.
Survivors told investigators Corrigan and his men - including five who did not survive, Richard Fitzsimmons, William Wren, Phillip Hayes, Robert Mayor and Larry Boisseau - were involved in saving dozens of trapped children in one tower.
The exits near the day-care center were choked with people trying to leave, and these officers broke through windows and carried the children through the shattered glass to safety.
With the children outside, the fire officers then manned critical posts to prevent panic and stampedes, permitting thousands of people to flee the towers before they crumbled.
A memorial service for Corrigan, a retired Fire Department captain, is slated for today at St. Anastasia Church at 45-05 245th St., Douglaston, Queens.
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