Local Emerald Society helping New York firefighters
BROWNSVILLE — Firefighting is said to be a brotherhood, and firefighters and other emergency responders in Brownsville are reaching out to help their brothers in New York who lost their homes during Hurricane Sandy.
“A small town in Queens, Breezy Point, was basically destroyed by fire,” said South Brownsville Assistant Chief Ron Barry. “A lot of firefighters lived in that community and lost their homes.”
The Breezy Point fire station was flooded, fire hydrants were under water and communication was knocked out, leaving the firefighters helpless as gale-force winds spread the fires from house to house, Barry said. According to news reports, the firefighters could do little more than evacuate people by boat to get them away from the burning houses.
“There were some courageous rescues. There was one in Queens where the firefighters took off their bunker gear and swam and actually saved the people,” said Jordan Sealy, assistant fire chief of Brownsville Fire Company No. 1 (North Side) and treasurer of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Emerald Society based in Brownsville.
The Emerald Society, a fraternal organization for emergency responders of Irish heritage, is sponsoring a T-shirt sale to benefit the Breezy Point firefighters.
“We wanted to do something more than just sponsor the Brownsville St. Patrick’s Day parade,” Sealy said.
Order forms for the Hurricane Sandy Relief T-shirts are available at both the Brownsville No. 1 and South Brownsville fire halls, as well as at the Fayette EMS station in Connellsville, or by contacting any of the area firefighters. Orders also can be placed to the Southwestern Pennsylvania Emerald Society Facebook page. The money will be donated to the FDNY Uniformed Firefighters Association for dispersal to those in need.
“Whatever funds we raise will go straight up there,” Sealy said. “We’re not setting any goals. We’re just hoping to raise as much as we can as fast as we can.”
Barry said this isn’t the first time Brownsville firefighters have offered aid to their New York City brothers.
“Back in 2001, we did the T-shirt sale to benefit the families of the 343 firefighters who were lost on 9/11. We raised over $4,000, which we hand-delivered,” Barry said.