The number of first responders who have died from illnesses linked to 9/11 now equals the death toll of firefighters linked to the attack on the World Trade Center itself.
Retired firefighter Robert Fulco, who served in Engine 250 in Brooklyn, died Saturday of pulmonary fibrosis.
The 73-year-old was the 343rd first responder to die from an illness related to the terror attack, the same number who died on September 11, 2001.
His death comes after fellow New York City Fire Department (FDNY) member and emergency medical technician Hilda Vannata, 67, died Wednesday after a battle with cancer.
The pair suffered from illnesses due to the time they spent on rescue and recovery efforts at Ground Zero.
The number of first responders who have died from 9/11-related illnesses now equals the firefighter death toll associated with the attack itself
New York City Fire Department (FDNY) member and emergency medical technician Hilda Vannata, 67, died Wednesday after a 9/11-related cancer battle
Retired firefighter Robert Fulco, 73, who served in Engine 250 in Brooklyn, died Saturday of pulmonary fibrosis. He was the 343rd first responder to die from an illness related to the terrorist attack, which is the same number as those who died on September 11, 2001.
Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh said in a statement: “Since the 22nd anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks earlier this month, we have experienced the loss of two additional FDNY members due to illnesses at the World Trade Center, our 342 and 343 deaths.
“We’ve known this day would come for a long time, but the reality of it is still astonishing.
“We have now suffered the same number of deaths after September 11 as the day the North and South Towers collapsed.
“Our hearts break for the families of these members and all who loved them.”
Fulk joined the FDNY in 1977 and worked fighting fires until he retired in August 2002, said Andrew Ansbro, president of the Uniformed Firefighters Association.
In recent years he has been dependent on an oxygen tank because it was determined he was too old for a lung replacement.
A native of Puerto Rico, Vannata joined the FDNY EMT team in 1988 and served 26 years at Battalion 14 – Lincoln Hospital.
She and her husband John Vannata, a retired New York City police officer and military veteran, volunteered after the September 11 attacks.
“She epitomized public service, honoring a family tradition of first responders, which she passed on to her son,” her obituary said.
A native of Puerto Rico, Vannata joined the FDNY EMT team in 1988 and served 26 years in Battalion 14 – Lincoln Hospital
In 2019, a federal government study found that September 11 first responders have an increased risk of cancer compared to the general population, including a 41 percent increase in the likelihood of being diagnosed with leukemia.
A paramedic and police officer breathe oxygen after the South Tower of the WTC collapsed
Commissioner Kavanagh revealed that more than 11,000 FDNY members who responded to the terror attacks continue to suffer from related illnesses, 3,500 of which are cancer.
“So many of our members showed up for us on that fateful day, and so many were lost,” she said.
“The legacy we are creating for them is one of honor and one of promise. That’s why we’ll continue to advocate for survivors, and we won’t stop pushing until all of our members receive the care they deserve for the rest of their lives.”
Officially, the number of victims linked to the attacks stands at 2,996 – including 2,977 victims and 19 hijackers who committed suicide by crashing planes into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and an unpopulated field in Pennsylvania.
Thousands more were injured, and New York bore the brunt of the death toll – with an estimated 1,600 victims in the North Tower and another thousand in the South.
But long after the last embers were extinguished and the dust of the disaster had settled, the effects are still being felt – with the death toll still rising, cancer diagnoses and ailments traced to the smoke that filled the city streets. that day.
According to the CDC, there have been 17,175 cancer diagnoses among living first responders since the September 11, 2023, attacks.
The city’s fire department added 43 names to the Ground Zero memorial on September 6, citing long-term health effects from the attack as the cause.
Twelve years ago, as the death toll from the attack continued to rise, the FDNY created its own memorial wall solely to commemorate firefighters, paramedics and other first responders who died from illnesses related to the rescue efforts.
The addition added 43 new names to the plaque – separate from the much larger monument found at Ground Zero, honoring the 2,977 people who died immediately during the attacks.
In the decades since, more than 5,000 people in the area are said to have died from 9/11-related diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular disease, but they were not given a spot on the memorial.
Twelve years ago, as the death toll from the attack continued to rise, the FDNY created its own memorial wall solely to commemorate firefighters, paramedics and other first responders who died from illnesses related to the rescue efforts.
At its inception, the plaque, found at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in Lower Manhattan, began with 55 names, but nearly 300 more have since been etched.
The decision to reserve the plaque for first responders, made to mark the tenth anniversary of the attack, speaks to the health risks many of these heroic men and women were exposed to in the aftermath of the event, with many selflessly rushing to help others help like toxic smoke. filled the streets of the city.