[1][2][5] The other four, Brendan Cawley, Jeff Cool, Joe DiBernardo, and Gene Stolowski, were severely injured and disabled and had to retire.
People attending a birthday party reported smelling smoke; a group of firefighters from Ladder Company 103 who were investigating withdrew from the basement when the heat became too intense, but one, Richard T. Sclafani, did not come out and was found unconscious on the stairs after apparently catching his equipment on a coat rack.
[2] The FDNY assigned a large part of the blame for the deaths to the building code violation for the subdivision of the apartment.
[3][4] The surviving firefighters and the families of those who were killed announced their intention to file lawsuits against the city over the lack of safety ropes.
New York City Fire Department (FDNY) dedicated a plaque honoring Lieutenants John Bellew and Curtis Meyran a year after Black Sunday.
New York City Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta said “The plaque dedication is a department tradition; a way we pay respect to our lost firefighters.
These men will always be remembered as heroes.” Mayor Bloomberg held Firefighter Sclafani's mother's hand whilst his sister spoke: “I have always felt the strength of my brother.