There’s a reason that fire fighters often talk about “the job” with such respect and love. There is something that sets them apart, this job that might cause them to lose their life but which they are committed to like they are to their own families.
Like many fire fighting families in the City of New York, multiple generations of the Feehan family, have served as fire fighters in the FDNY. William Feehan’s father was a fire fighter as is his son and grandson.
Interviews with colleagues who worked with Chief Feehan reiterated his strengths as both a student of history and a son of New York. His knowledge of the City’s political apparatus, combined with his skills navigating increasingly complex systems, benefitted him immensely in his rise in the Department.
William Feehan’s dedication to the job was equal to his love of family. He was present in his grandchildren’s lives after losing his wife, Betty, in 1998, and he continued to be an exemplary role model of service to the next generation of fire fighters who succeeded him.
In the early 1970’s, William Feehan, along with dozens of FDNY lieutenants, were tasked with ticketing businesses along what was known as “Radio Row” in Lower Manhattan. Little did they know that this assignment was attached to what was to become the eminent domain by the City of New York to build what became the World Trade Center complex off of West Street.
In interviews with women who worked with him, Bill’s respect for and encouragement of women in the Department was evident. In such a male-dominated culture, his female colleagues said he was supportive of anyone capable of doing the job necessary to make the Department the best it could be, regardless of gender.
On September 11, 2001, First Deputy Commissioner William Feehan and other high ranking members of the FDNY, were killed when the second Tower collapsed. At the age of 71, he continued to be fully engaged in the day-to-day operations of the Department and died doing what he loved, serving the people of the great City of New York, where he was born and raised.
