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About 350 firefighters responded to a blaze yesterday at the Long Island General Supply Company store in Astoria, An explosion sent a wall of bricks tumbling; three firefighters died and several families lost homes. http://www.msnbc.com/news/588705.asp?0si=-&cp1=1

HIGH DRAMA:
Firefighters in a cherry-picker struggle yesterday to douse the blaze that left three of their colleagues dead. - Matthew McDermott

3Firefighters Killed In Qns. Store Blast
BILL HUTCHINSON - NY Daily News

Father's Day resounded with grief for the families and colleagues of three firefighters killed when a massive explosion suddenly ripped through a Queens hardware store, burying them under an avalanche of rubble.

"I'm trapped in the basement by the stairs," Firefighter Brian Fahey, a 46-year-old father of three, cried in a desperate last radio call for help. "Come get me."

Although Fahey died before rescuers could reach him, at least one other firefighter was pulled from the rubble of the partially collapsed, two-story Astoria building, barely breathing. Surgeons were fighting to save his life last night, officials said.

"I can't think of a more tragic Father's Day," a grim-faced Mayor Giuliani said in mourning the three fallen Bravest, who left eight children between them.

Rescue Co. 4 Firefighter Harry Ford, 50, a father of three, and Ladder Co. 163 Firefighter John Downing, 40, a father of two, were pronounced dead at Elmhurst Hospital Center.

Ford and Downing were outside the building breaking windows for ventilation when a wall collapsed on them, said Fire Commissioner Thomas Von Essen, his hands blood-red from clawing through brick and metal to get to his buried men.

Fahey, also of Rescue Co. 4, was found dead in the rubble nearly four hours after the 2:48 p.m. blast at the Long Island General Supply Co., 12-22 Astoria Blvd. Officials said he plunged through the first floor into the basement when the explosion ignited.

As his body was carried from the smoky scene, his burly, battle-scarred comrades — who all heard his chilling plea for help over the radio — removed their helmets and bowed their heads. Some mouthed prayers as others wiped their red-rimmed eyes.

The cause of yesterday's blast was under investigation. Spencer Gordon, whose family owns the hardware store, said the business was filled with paints, paint thinner and propane tanks.

"It's a hardware store," he said. "The whole place is full of chemicals."

Firefighter Joseph Vosilla, 41, of Ladder Co. 116, was in critical condition at Elmhurst Hospital Center, where he was undergoing surgery last night. Von Essen said Vosilla was buried in the same wall collapse that killed Ford and Downing.

Six other firefighters were in serious condition — including Lt. Brendan Manning, 47, of Batallion 49, who was taken to Weill Cornell Medical Center, which has a top-flight burn unit.

About 50 firefighters, five police officers, several EMS workers and two civilians were treated for minor injuries, ranging from cuts to smoke inhalation.

The devastation marked the deadliest day for the FDNY since three firefighters were killed in a pre-Christmas 1998 high-rise blaze in Canarsie, Brooklyn.

The men who died yesterday were the second, third and fourth firefighters killed in the line of duty this year.

The tragedy unfolded shortly before 2:30 p.m., when the first units arrived to fight what appeared to be a minor basement fire. Firefighters evacuated the top-floor apartments, then cut the lock off the metal gate of the hardware store, which was closed for Father's Day.

After breaking the store's windows, they traced the fire to the basement. Then they heard a few pops, followed by a deafening explosion.

"You felt the whole building shake," said Firefighter Patrick Baker, 37, who was on the second floor of the building at the time of the blast.

"The floor rose 4 feet into the air. We just ran out of the building," said Baker, his soot-covered face a picture of anguish.

The tremendous boom knocked firefighters standing outside off their feet, and a couple were thrown into the street. Many had blood streaming from their arms, legs and heads, and many were gasping for air and trying to regain their bearings.

Windows of cars parked on the street were shattered and buildings nearby rattled as frightened neighbors poured into the street.

As the routine fire suddenly turned into a five-alarm blaze, more than 350 firefighters rushed to the scene, where they launched an all-out rescue operation to save the trapped Fahey.

"We had radio contact with him, but then that contact ended," an emotional Von Essen said. "He told his boss where he was and they started trying to get him out. They hoped to get to him while he was still alive, but they weren't able to."

Robin Gordon, 41, co-owner of the hardware store he inherited from his father, Alec Gordon, who died two weeks ago, said a fire chief called him in the early afternoon to say a small fire was under control.

He wasn't prepared for the scene of devastation he encountered upon his arrival.

"Oh, my God! I can't believe this," Gordon said, adding that he was more concerned for the firefighters than his business.

Gordon said he regretted closing the store for Father's Day.

"If we were in the building, this never would have happened," he said, shaking his head. "It would have never happened."

John J. Downing

John J. Downing, 40, of Port Jefferson Station, N.Y. Downing was an 11-year veteran of the department. He worked at Ladder Co. 163. He is survived by his wife, Anne, a daughter, Joanne, 7, and a son, Michael, 3.

"He came from a big Irish family and they were all very close," said neighbor Claudia Friszell. Downing, who grew up in Queens, followed his sister to the neighborhood several years ago and lived a few doors down.

Downing had been studying to take exams for a hoped-for promotion, Friszell said.

"My heart just breaks for these kids," Friszell said. "Father's Day will never be the same for them."

Two other firefighters from Rescue 4 have died on the job in the past 10 years. Lt. Tommy Williams, 51, died in a 1992 fire in Maspeth. Peter McLaughlin, 31, died in a Long Island City fire in 1995.

Harry Ford

Harry Ford, 50, of Long Beach, N.Y. He, too, was assigned to Rescue 4. A 24-year veteran of the department who had received nine bravery citations, Ford is survived by his wife, Denise, a daughter, Janna O'Brien, 24, and two sons, Harry, 12, and Gerard, 10.

Neighbors described Ford as a family man who had lived for more than a decade in the same home.

"Everybody's pretty shocked, especially with it being Father's Day," said neighbor Martin Ryan. "It's sad. "

Harry Ford, 50, of Long Beach, L.I. Visiting hours, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. today and tomorrow at the Vanella Funeral Chapel, 2860 Long Beach Road, Oceanside, L.I. Funeral Mass at 9:30 a.m. Thursday at St. Ignatius Church, corner of Grand St. and Broadway in Long Beach.

Brian Fahey

Brian Fahey, 46, of East Rockaway, N.Y., a 14-year veteran of the department. He worked for Rescue Co. 4.

Fahey is survived by his wife, Mary, and three sons, Brendan, 8, and twins Patrick and James, 3 1/2 years old.

A line of firefighters bowed their heads in respect as Fahey's body was taken from the scene by ambulance. An NYPD helicopter transported Fahey's wife to Elmhurst Hospital Center from the family's home in Long Island.

6/22/01
Great Dad & Coach Was an Inspiration
By PATRICE O'SHAUGHNESSY
Daily News Staff Writer

They mourned Firefighter Brian Fahey with grand gestures and soaring words, but the true measure of the loss was etched in the small, freckled face of his 8-year-old son, Brendan, where tears mixed with raindrops as his dad's fire helmet was placed on his head.

Fahey died fighting a fire on Father's Day, and at his funeral all the people he touched as a dad and a hero converged in grief and love.

Close to 10,000 firefighters, already weary from the funeral for Firefighter Harry Ford, turned out at St. Raymond's Church in East Rockaway, L.I., to honor Fahey, 46, who was in Rescue Co. 4 with Ford. They and Firefighter John Downing were killed in the Astoria, Queens, hardware store fire Sunday, when an explosion sent tons of debris crashing down.

The thousands of mourners paid tribute to Fahey's devotion to his children, his Little League team and the hundreds of firefighters he trained, and to the courage he showed to the end.

The fire truck caisson carrying Fahey's coffin moved slowly down Atlantic Ave. as 60 bagpipers played "Minstrel Boy." Leading the procession was Firefighter Liam Flaherty, drum major for the Fire Department's bagpipe band and a member of Rescue 4. Flaherty marched stoically at the head of the procession, as he had at Ford's, but his lip quivered as he got closer to the church. He has led the pipers in dozens of funerals, but yesterday he was burying two close comrades.

Seated on folding chairs at the door of the church were Capt. Denis Murphy and Firefighter Tim Geraghty, both of Squad 288 and both lame from injuries suffered when the explosion rocked the store.

"We lost a milestone to the Fire Department," Geraghty said, his crutches placed next to him. "I'm just thankful to be here today. I didn't think I was going to get out of the store. When I did, I was counting every star in the sky even though it was daylight out."

Fahey couldn't get out. He became trapped in the basement after the explosion and called for help.

"He gave a Mayday," Fire Department Chaplain John Delendick told the 650 people who packed the church. "He said, 'I'm under the stairs, please come and get me,' and the firefighters who heard that began to claw their way through the rocks and rubble to find him. But one other heard him.

"God went down to the rubble and got him and brought him safely home, where he is at peace forever."

Msgr. Thomas Candreva noted how Fahey taught at the Nassau Fire Academy, as well as training city firefighters.

"For the next five, 10, 15 years those firefighters will emerge from dangerous situations because of something Brian taught them. Skills that could not save himself will save you," he said.

Speaking of Fahey's generosity and courage, Candreva said, "Take one of his qualities, and he will continue to burn bright in your lives in the way you live."

Ronan Tynan, one of the three Irish Tenors, sent "Danny Boy" soaring through the church. And Firefighter James Sanders lightened the grief with amusing anecdotes about "Chubby," as he nicknamed Fahey.

Six members of the Little League team Fahey coached sat in the last pew in their yellow T-shirts and baseball caps. The team, called the Red Sox despite the colors they wore, placed their caps over their hearts as Fahey's coffin was borne past them.

Jack Capetola, 8, who said he is Brendan's best friend, called Fahey "a really nice coach, like a dad to me, because my father doesn't live with me. It's very sad."

Vincent Martinez, 8, said Fahey was a "great coach," even though he usually didn't let him play first base.

Fahey's wife, Mary, sobbed as she was escorted from the church. Brendan cried hard and chewed gum between gasps as he walked out of the church and into the downpour to take his father to the cemetery.

Some of What Was Said:

Fire Department Chaplain John Delendick:

"[Fahey's] last words were, 'Mayday. I'm under the stairs, please come and get me.' And the firefighters who heard that began to claw their way through the rocks and rubble to find him." "But one other heard him. God went down to the rubble and got him and brought him safely home."

Mayor Giuliani:

"The firefighters worked and worked and tried and tried to rescue him, and when they extricated him, they saluted him and we all salute him, and salute him forever."

Fire Commissioner Thomas Von Essen:

"Brian helped make other firefighters better at the job they do. Many firefighters are here because they learned well from him."

Colleagues carry flag-draped coffin of Firefighter Harry Ford into St. Ignatius Martyr Catholic Church for funeral Mass in Long Beach, L.I. yesterday.

6/22/01
Colleagues Honor One of the City's Best Strapping firefighter was a model of bravery
By MICHELE McPHEE
Daily News Staff Writer


Throngs of firefighters — some who knew Harry Ford and many who didn't — wiped at red-rimmed eyes as Fire Department bagpipes sighed a forlorn "Amazing Grace."

Like the sea breeze buffeting St. Ignatius Martyr Catholic Church yesterday morning, they came to comfort Ford's family and tell his children that their father was a hero's hero.

"I never met Harry Ford, but I knew Harry Ford," said one of 10,000 comrades mourning the loss of the 27-year FDNY veteran, killed in a fire and explosion in Queens on Father's Day. "I knew the name. He was one of those legendary figures that you hear about. He was a character. He had a personality. He was a leader."

Those sentiments were echoed in eulogies at the funeral Mass for Ford, 50, at the church in his hometown of Long Beach, L.I.

The Fire Department lost an icon, said Commissioner Thomas Von Essen.

"It's hard to imagine the department without Harry," Von Essen said. "Harry was one of the big men in this department."

Mayor Giuliani asked the congregation to give Ford a standing ovation so his three children could see the respect their father had earned.

"He was not only one of our Bravest," the mayor had told the Ford family. "He was one of our best."

At Rescue Co. 4, the elite unit that was Ford's working life, he was the burly firefighter who walked through a wall of flame to carry a baby out of a Brooklyn blaze. He was the guy who plunged into a burning bedroom barefoot — while off-duty — to rescue an elderly man trapped in a fire. He was cited for bravery so many times, acts of extreme heroism were often dubbed "Harry Fordisms."

"Harry liked to say, 'Don't give too many orders, they might follow them,'" Battalion Chief Jack Corcoran, former captain of Rescue 4, said in a tearful farewell.

"Well, I'm giving an order to Capt. Hickey of Rescue 4. Check the firehouse foundation, there is a big chunk missing out of there."

The morning began solemnly, as firefighters from around the nation, standing at attention, formed a sea of blue that stretched a mile along the funeral procession route.

When the fire truck carrying Ford's coffin — draped in a red and white Fire Department flag — stopped in front of the church, the sun was devoured by hazy clouds, shrouding the crowd in a gray light.

Eight firefighters struggled to carry his coffin up the stone stairs of the church, looking as if they would collapse with grief, as his widow, Denise, stepdaughter Janna O'Brien, 24, and young sons Harry, 12, and Gerard, 10, followed Ford's body inside.

Later, when the service ended and Ford's family followed his coffin outside, dignitaries — including the mayoral candidates — bowed their heads.

Ford's sons watched an NYPD helicopter procession pass in tribute overhead.

The boys were clutching two fire helmets emblazoned with "Rescue 4."

Some of What Was Said:

Mayor Giuliani:

"He was a hero's hero." "He worried about human life more than he worried about his own. He liked to joke that he had another 20 years of service left in him." "He was not only one of our Bravest. He was one of our best." Fire Commissioner Thomas Von Essen:

"It's hard to imagine the department without Harry. Harry was one of the big men in this department." "Just do it like Harry Ford would have done it, and we'll all be okay." Battalion Chief Jack Corcoran, former captain of Rescue 4:

"Harry Ford never said 'Goodbye' or 'See ya later.' His way of saying goodbye was, 'Ta-ta, fellas.'" "I'm giving an order to Capt. Hickey of Rescue 4. Check the firehouse foundation. There is a big chunk missing out of there."

Firefighters line funeral procession for Harry Ford as his 10-year-old son, Gerard, peers from limousine after services in Long Beach, L.I., yesterday.

Grief-stricken children of Firefighter Brian Fahey weep as their father's coffin is carried into St. Raymond's Church for funeral in East Rockaway, L.I., yesterday.

Firefighters Denis Murphy (l.) and John Berna, both injured in Father's Day fire that killed three colleagues, watch funeral procession for Brian Fahey in East Rockaway, L.I., yesterday

June 30, 2001

Dear John Gilleeny,

Many thanks for your kind remarks. I have had a good look through your very worthwile site and added a link to it on my page at http://www.webace.com.au/~lowpress/firetirees.htm .

The sad loss of Harry Ford, Brian Fahey and John Downing makes me wonder, once again, at how often fatalities occur at what seem at first to be minor everyday fires.

Regards ... Noel Stephens

[email: lowpress@bigfoot.com]
[phone: Australia (08) 9313 5345]

June 30, 2001

FIRE HERO:ANGELS DID THEIR PART
By JESSIE GRAHAM - NY POST

"I guess the angels have something else for me to do, somewhere along the line."

That's what Lt. Brendan Manning said of his miraculous survival in the Queens Blaze that killed three of his FDNY colleagues on Father's Day.

Manning, 47, is out of the hospital with a laundry list of injuries from the inferno -- but with his humor and sense of spirit intact.

"The doctors are fairly hopeful they can put Humpty Dumpty back together again," he said.

He faces months of recovery and operations from a broken jaw and ruptured eardrum that has left him deaf in one ear. A gash on the back of his head needed 20 stitches, and his clavicle was shattered,

His face is still swollen from severe burns and he can't blink his left eye.

When he heals, he hopes to return to the Fire Department. He plans to take the captain's test in October.

When Manning arrived with Ladder Company 163 at the Long Island General Supply Co. hardware store, thought he was facing a "routine fire."

"Then someone opened the gates of hell and the devils came out," he said.

He pried open the heavy metal back door to find the fire's source and looked up at the ceiling with an infrared camera, spotting a "red ball" of flames above him.

"I was just about to tell the chief, 'Chief, we have fire in the . . .,' I didn't even get the word 'ceiling' out when this huge force just hit me coming out of the basement," he said. "I remember being lifted up. I remember being in a black fireball type of thing with orange and red."

The force of the blast flung him 20 feet out into the alley.

"I remember telling myself this is a nightmare and I want to wake up from this nightmare," he said.

"But at the same time there was another voice saying this is very real and this is happening and it's happening now. I was very scared."

Two days later in the burn unit at Cornell New York Hospital, he found out that three of his colleagues had died, and another was fighting for his life.

The horrific blaze was set accidentally by two teen boys, whom Manning said he forgives.

"Kids are kids. I don't feel that they meant any harm," he said.

He'd counted John Downing as a friend and co-worker, and had met Harry Ford and Brian Fahey.

He can't believe they're gone.

"So many people hurt. Three guys dead. Eight children fatherless," he said. "It's surreal. It just seems so unreal."

Manning also thanked New Yorkers yesterday for supporting the fallen heroes' families with donations to a fund established by The Post.

"It's just an absolutely amazing thing how many good people there are in New York City," he said.

"To see such an outpouring of love and caring for these kids and these families, it breaks your heart."

Generous New Yorkers contributed $23,000 yesterday to the Astoria Fire: Post Heroes Fund, bringing the total up to $478,000.

"I personally, on behalf of everyone in the fire department, thank all the people who have contributed and The Post," said Fire Commissioner Thomas Von Essen.

Von Essen said firefighter Joseph Vosilla, who was critically injured in the blaze, was placed back on a respirator Thursday, after briefly being able to breathe on his own earlier this week.

June 22, 2001
Services Held for Third Firefighter
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK - Funeral services were held Friday for the third firefighter killed in a five-alarm fire and explosion in a hardware store on Father's Day. John Downing, an 11-year veteran, was remembered as ``the bravest of the Bravest.'' He was killed Sunday along with firefighters Brian Fahey and Harry Ford.

Ford, and Downing were crushed to death by the tumbling roof and facade. Fahey was trapped inside. About 50 other people suffered injuries, and two firefighters remained hospitalized Friday.

Investigators have found preliminary evidence that the blaze started when two teen-agers accidentally knocked over a can of gasoline behind the store. The explosion apparently was caused by cans of combustible fluids in the store's basement.

Funerals for Fahey, 46, and Ford, 50, were held Thursday. Their widows along with thousands of firefighters from around the country and Canada attended Friday's Mass for Downing, 40, at a church not far from the scene of the fatal blaze.

Sunday was supposed to be Downing's last day at work before he and his family traveled to Ireland to visit relatives. Instead, about two dozen relatives of Downing and his wife, an Irish emigre, traveled to New York for the funeral.

``I would like them to take back to Ireland a message from New York City,'' Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said. ``The respect, the admiration, the debt the people of New York have to the people of Ireland.''

Downing's survivors include his wife, a son and a daughter.

7/18/01
Firefighters' Widows Try To Rebuild After Tragedy
By MICHELE McPHEE
Daily News Staff Writer

The day after Denise Ford buried her husband, Harry, she went to the site of the Queens Father's Day explosion that killed him and two fellow firefighters.

She stood amid the smoldering wreckage of the hardware store, placed some flowers and said a silent prayer.

"I wanted to finally see the monster that brought my Harry down," she told the Daily News yesterday. "It was hard for me to understand that after 27 years how this would be the fire that took him."

More than three weeks after the blast that killed Ford, 50, Brian Fahey, 46, and John Downing, 40 — leaving eight children fatherless — the victims' widows are slowly trying to rebuild their shattered lives.

Their spirits have been boosted by an outpouring of support from their extended FDNY family and a legion of strangers who have sent cards, letters and e-mails and made phone calls.

Some firefighters have already begun to plan repairs in the widows' homes and others have taken on the role of surrogate fathers, taking the children to movies and parks.

"I didn't realize how great the Fire Department would be," Ford said during an interview yesterday in the living room of her Long Beach, L.I., home.

"They have told me so many stories about Harry," she added. "That was my husband — he didn't talk about being good on the job, he just was."

Even as Denise Ford, Mary Fahey and Anne Downing have lived out the days since the June 17 inferno in swirling chaos, anxiety and sadness, they have found strength in each other.

Last week, the three women met for a tearful lunch to talk about their losses.

"It's been hard. It's hard to imagine my life without him. He was my best friend," said Ford, who married Harry in 1983. "We've been on a high because there are so many people around. This has become a humbling experience for me. The kindness of so many strangers. It makes you want to be more kind."

But thoughts of a future without her Harry, she said, prove daunting.

"I couldn't tell you what I'm going to do tomorrow. This has done me in," said Ford, a former phone company line installer.

"I haven't fully mourned him. All I want to do is stay home and go through photo albums and think of my husband."

While she's experienced every emotion possible since the blast that changed so many lives forever, Denise Ford said she bears no malice toward the two teenagers authorities believe accidentally started the fire that sparked the explosion.

"I feel sad for them," she said. "I feel bad for them."

The two boys aren't much older than Harry Ford's sons, Harry Jr., 12, and Gerard, 10, who were staying with a cousin yesterday.

Harry Ford's stepdaughter, Janna O'Brien, 24, took solace in recalling the corny jokes he had taught her from the time she was 6, when her mother began dating him.

"I learned all my jokes from him," O'Brien said yesterday. "He would always have one, like, 'Why did the guy throw the clock out the window? To see time fly.' He was a great father."

In nearby East Rockaway, L.I., where Brian Fahey had lived with his wife, Mary, and three sons, Brendan, 8, and twins Patrick and James, 3, the little boys frolicked under a sprinkler.

"I don't want to talk in front of them," Mary Fahey said. "We're all doing okay."

At the Downing family home in Woodside, Queens, his devastated widow chose not to talk to reporters. She has had a hard time finding the strength to face raising her 7-year-old daughter, Joanne, and son Michael, 3, alone.

"She's still in mourning," a relative said yesterday.

Denise Ford was one of the thousands standing outside St. Sebastian Catholic Church in Woodside the day Downing was buried. She remembers that, for an instant, she thought her husband was behind her.

"We were standing outside the church, and all of a sudden the wind kicked up," she said. "I thought it was Harry and Brian, sending us their blessings.

"Even now I keep thinking he's going to walk in the door and I'll say, 'This is my Harry.'"

7/18/01
COMMENTARY
Beating the Red Devil
Dennis Duggan - Newsday

I gave Firefighter Joseph Vosilla a thumbs-up yesterday afternoon and he gave me one back along with a big smile.

I don't know what I expected when I was ushered through the glass doors at Elmhurst Hospital Center and into the trauma unit there.

The stories of the Father's Day fire that left him near death and his many surgeries had been pretty grim. His injuries included a crushed pelvis, a crushed diaphragm, ruptured bladder, perforated bowel, a crushed lung and heart contusions.

Only his family and fellow firefighters were allowed into his glass-walled room, where he lies to protect him from infections.

But what I saw yesterday was a man who seemed healthy and at ease. His face was unmarked. He might have been recovering from a bad cold instead of miraculously surviving being crushed under a collapsed wall during the Astoria hardware store fire that claimed the lives of Harry Ford, John Downing and Brian Fahey.

It was the first time I had met Vosilla. But I felt a surge of relief when I saw him and saw how he seemed to be enjoying watching the Montel Williams show on a color television set that hovered over his bed.

"Good for you, Vosilla," I said to myself. "Good for you." His windowsill was filled with presents, including one stuffed animal that looked like a bear. In a room down the hall was the overflow, cards from his friends and from Long Island City schoolkids.

The door to that room, where Vosilla's brother John and two relatives sat vigil, was covered with a firefighter's T-shirt and included a picture of Vosilla relaxing in his firehouse.

The shirt also bore "The Flaming Skulls" - the logo of Ladder 116 where Vosilla worked - and the tender message, "We Love You." In the hallway outside Vosilla's room, I bumped into Rick Motta, who worked with Vosilla at Ladder 116 for 17 months. I told him Queens District Attorney Richard Brown was announcing today that no criminal charges are expected to be brought against the teenage boys who spilled the gasoline that touched off the fatal explosion.

"I think most firefighters would agree with that," said Motta, who has been with the department for 2 1/2 years. "It was an accident." It is a tradition in the Fire Department that one firefighter's misfortune is the responsibility of every other firefighter. That was evident when the halls were choked with firefighters who came during the past month to stand by Vosilla, to give their blood for him and to take care of his family.

Vosilla is lucky to be alive. He hovered near death the night he arrived at the hospital, and he was listed in very critical condition for several days after that.

Yesterday, he already had been upgraded to stable, and it is hoped the worst is behind him. He will have to spend another two to three weeks in the hospital before being sent to a rehabilitation center for physical therapy.

Just listening to the litany of what he has been through in a hospital stay that began exactly one month ago today made you marvel at the miracles that occur daily in this city's great hospitals. But without the iron will to live that men like Vosilla seem blessed with, even miracles might not be enough.

Vosilla has undergone three surgeries, two for internal injuries and one for the delicate repair of his shattered pelvis. The pelvis is one of the linchpins of the body, and someone marveled at the work done by his doctors.

"It looks like an Erector set in there," a bystander said.

Vosilla is still unable to walk. He beat the Red Devil, which is what firefighters call the fires they battle for a living. But he paid a terrible price, and that is why he and his colleagues are routinely called heroes.

"He's out of the woods," I was told by a hospital spokesman. "He is eating and talking but still has to undergo intensive physical therapy." Vosilla is an avid softball player, as well as a skier. One of his bosses recently called him a "hometown boy - the mayor of Long Island City," which is where the divorced firefighter lives.

He went to war with firefighters on Father's Day a month ago. Three gallant men died in a fluke inferno and another 20 were injured, none as seriously as Vosilla.

He will probably bear some scars from his fight with the Red Devil. But that spirited thumbs up he gave yesterday suggests those scars won't get in his way.

Dear John
Sent your letter to CAROL ON THE WEB and begged her for help. I plan on sending your letter to every great conservative website I find......Carol is a great writer