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American Morning

Fallen Firefighters Mourned in New York

Aired June 21, 2001 - 11:12   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Firefighters in New York right now are saying good-bye to two of their fallen comrades. Funeral services are being held today for two of the men who died while battling Sunday's big fire at a hardware store in Queens. The third firefighter died in the -- actually, he -- the third firefighter who died in the blaze will be buried tomorrow.

CNN's Jason Carroll joins us now. He is standing by in Long Beach, New York -- Jason.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we are here at the funeral service for Harry Ford. It is underway right now, and I want to give you a sense just how many people are here, Leon. If you look over my shoulder, and I'm hoping the camera can pick this up, there is a crush of people who have lined -- who are in the middle of the streets out here in Long Island. This is just one street. There are thousands of firefighters, their family, their friends who have come out to pay their respects for Harry Ford, Brian Fahey and John Downing, the three men who were killed in that Father's Day fire out in Queens.

Again, this service right now is for Harry Ford. He was 50 years old. He took great pride in being a firefighter. He is survived by his wife Denise and their three children.

Again, there was Brian Fahey, he was 46 years old; his nickname was Chubby. He liked his nickname, he liked his work. He is survived by his wife Mary and their three children. A service for him will take place later this afternoon out here in Long Island.

And finally we have 40-year-old John Downing. He is survived by his wife "Anne" and their two kids. A service will take place for John tomorrow.

Now I did, Leon, have the opportunity to speak to one firefighter from New Hampshire, and he told me that being a firefighter is like being in a brotherhood. He said when you lose one, he says it feels like losing a member of your whole family. And when you lose three in one day, like New Yorkers did on Father's Day, the entire community wants to come out and pay their respects. And that's why you're seeing the crowd that you're seeing out here right now -- Leon.

HARRIS: Jason, that is the public's show of support the likes of which you don't see very often. Jason Carroll reporting live from Long Beach New York, thank you.

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