NOLITA — The firefighters at Ladder 20 in Nolita said goodbye to their dalmatian of 15 years on Wednesday.
The dog, named Twenty, was given as a gift to the firehouse when it was a puppy by a pair of Rochester sheriffs after Ladder 20 lost seven firefighters on the 35th floor of the North Tower on Sept. 11, 2001.
The firefighters of Ladder 20 say Twenty became their "mascot and companion," and credit the pup with building morale in the difficult post-9/11 years.
Posted by NYC Fire Wire on Tuesday, January 5, 2016
"I can’t say enough about what she did to help us," Ladder 20 Lieutenant Gary Iorio said in posts on the FDNY's Facebook and Instagram pages. "She went on all the runs, she’d jump in the truck, stick her head out the window and bark. She became a local celebrity.”
Posted by NYC Fire Wire on Tuesday, January 5, 2016
The Facebook post drew nearly 3,000 comments, including remembrances of laying down on the firehouse couch with the dog after a long day and having her scamper down the sidewalk to greet firefighters coming to work.
One commenter who identified herself as the wife of a Ladder 20 firefighter said her husband raced into the city from Long Island "to be with his loyal friend one last time" on Tuesday.
Another sent condolences from "the guys at Brentwood, Essex County Fire and Rescue England."
"We visited Ladder 20 in October 2001 and was introduced to Twenty as a puppy," the commenter wrote. "Condolences to all the brothers at Ladder Twenty."
Posted by NYC Fire Wire on Tuesday, January 5, 2016
