Fire Helmet, Recovered

Safety Operating Battalion Chief Brian O’Flaherty was in FDNY quarters in the Brooklyn Navy Yard when he heard about the unfolding attack at the World Trade Center. Prior to that appointment, he’d served as Battalion Chief for Battalion 9, situated in Midtown Manhattan. On September 11, O’Flaherty wore the fire helmet he used during his tenure with the 9th Battalion when he responded to the World Trade Center. Narrowly surviving the collapse of the South Tower, O’Flaherty was badly injured and unable to continue with active rescue operations. At this time, his still serviceable helmet found its way to another surviving FDNY colleague, Chief Edward Henry from Battalion 40, who had lost his own helmet during the collapse. Both men survived the morning’s chaos, crediting their lives in part to the protection of the fire helmet they had shared.

O’Flaherty retired after 9/11 because of his injuries, concluding a 38-year career with the Fire Department. Months after the attacks, the battered fire helmet re-worn by Chief Henry inside the Marriott Hotel was discovered in the debris field at Ground Zero and returned to O’Flaherty. He elected to remove the helmet’s damaged front piece and lent it to the family of 9/11 victim Battalion 9 Chief Edward Geraghty for his memorial service. O’Flaherty wanted to share the front piece with Chief Geraghty’s grieving family in the absence of his remains, which were still missing. After the memorial service, Brian O’Flaherty placed the front piece into a plastic Ziploc bag and stored it in a box. He considered it “his most prized possession.” After O'Flaherty's death, his daughter discovered the front piece among her father’s possessions, accompanied by a note requesting that it be donated to the 9/11 Museum and thereby reunited with his recovered fire helmet.