Upon hearing that an airplane hit the Twin Towers on Sept. 11, 2001, Timmy Burke, then a firefighter with Engine 202/Ladder 101 in Brooklyn, said: “We thought it was a little Cessna, some little accident, but we knew it was going to be a good fire, a big one, we were ready, we were excited.”
That’s what Burke told Gear magazine shortly after he responded as one of New York’s bravest to one of the greatest tragedies to occur on U.S. soil. Burke, 51, formerly of Annadale, loved being a firefighter. He fought that day. And he survived.
But on the 19th anniversary of the tragedy, he succumbed to 9/11-related complications, said his brother Danny Burke. “In my opinion, my brother really died on Sept. 11, 2001. He was never the same person again,” said Burke. “He suffered from PTSD since then.”