2 NYC Firefighters Die on Same Day of Illnesses Linked to 9/11: We 'Will Never Forget Them'

Photo: FDNY (2)

Two retired New York City firefighters who served selflessly as first responders during the terror attacks onSept. 11, 2001died Friday of illnesses related to the tragedy.

Lt. Paul Deo Jr., 74, and firefighter Richard Jones, 63, died the same day, over 18 years after they worked at Ground Zero, where the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center once stood.

Deo was a firefighter for 33 years, and was assigned to Engine 317 in Queens before he retired one day shy of the one-year anniversary of 9/11, the FDNY said.

Jones, meanwhile, worked for 20 years at Ladder 25 in Manhattan, which lost seven members when the South Tower of the World Trade Center collapsed, according to theNew York Daily News.

He received three acts of merit during his decades-long career, in 1992 and 1997. Jones retired in October 2002, according toWLNY.

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The men were the 217th and 218th members of the FDNY to die of 9/11-related illnesses in the 19 years since the twin towers fell, according to theDaily News.

The department lost 343 members during the attacks, the FDNY said.

The deaths of Deo and Jones come seven months after President Donald Trumpsigned into a lawa hard-fought-for bill that extended funding for the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund for another seven decades.

The bill provides money for the VCF, which helps financially support 9/11 responders, survivors, and their families, through 2092, which became necessary after many developed various diseases due to their exposure to carcinogens such as jet fuel, mercury and asbestos.

The fund had previously said it was running out of money more quickly than planned, given escalating claims from 9/11 victims.

source: people.com