Community honors Father’s Day Fire heroes

Less than three months prior to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, three borough firefighters perished in a blaze in an Astoria hardware store on June 17, 2001 that has become known as the Father’s Day Fire. Last Saturday, the Fire Department, family, friends and residents gathered at St. Sebastian’s Church in Woodside to mark the 10th anniversary of the event that injured dozens of smoke-eaters and claimed the lives of Ladder Co. 163 Firefighter John Downing and Rescue Co. 4 firefighters Brian Fahey and Harry Ford. They left eight children between them. The fire, one of the worst in the history of the FDNY, was deemed an accident by investigators. Children playing in the rear of the building knocked over a can of gasoline, which was then ignited by a hot water heater, causing a propane tank to explode. — Michael Cusenza