FDNY Firefighter Who Fought for 9/11 Benefits Dies

A veteran FDNY firefighter who spent the last several years battling politicians over the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act died Sunday.

Ray Pfeifer, 59, of Hicksville, NY, died after a yearslong battle with stage-four cancer that was contracted during his months of work at the World Trade Center. He lost a kidney and part of his leg to the the disease.

After "27 years, 220 days and nine hours," Pfeifer retired from FDNY. He was assigned to Engine 40/Ladder 35--the station that lost 11 members on Sept. 11--located in Manhattan's Lincoln Square neighborhood.

He was not working on September 11, but spent eight months working in the rubble piles left by the collapse of the World Trade Center.

"Ray Pfeifer was a true fighter who bravely battled fires as a New York City Firefighter and fought tirelessly for all first responders who - like him - suffered from World Trade Center related illness," Fire Commissioner Daniel A. Nigro said in a statement. "The entire FDNY family deeply mourns his loss."

When Congress failed to extend the James L. Zadroga 9/11 Health & Compensation Act in the fall of 2015, Pfeifer spent countless hours to extend the benefits for people at the World Trade Center. The act was named after James L. Zadroga, an NYPD officer who died of respiratory disease related to his work at the World Trade Center.

Over 1,700 people have died from illnesses related to the terror attacks.

Comedian Jon Stewart joined Pfeifer in the efforts to get Congress to restore the act and Pfeifer took over a dozen trips to Washington, D.C. in his efforts until it was passed in December 2015. It reopened the victim compensation fund for those who suffered injuries or death as a result of 9/11 and it’s after effects. 

“He was selfless in his work on behalf of firefighters and first responders in the aftermath of the 9/11 attack, being instrumental in lobbying to get the Zadroga Act passed, while battling cancer himself,” Gerard Fitzgerald,  president of the Uniformed Firefighters Association told the New York Daily News. “Him being there, as polite of a man and how nice he was, got his point across of how important this was to the firefighters and other first responders on 9/11."

In January 2016, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio honored Pfiefer for his efforts to extend the Zdroga Act and presented him with a key to the city.

Pfiefer was awarded the 2016 Fire News Outstanding Leadership Award at Firehouse Expo in October 2016. 

Pfeifer was a frequent user of the Firehouse.com Forums with 3,663 posts. Going by the username E40FDNYL35, he provided firefighters from around the world with updates about FDNY and the department after the September 11 attacks.

His last post was in the "Weird but True" section of the forums where he posted "November 14, 2016 -- I'm still alive."

"You meet very few truly great men in your life. Ray was one of them," New York Sen. Chuck Schumer tweeted Sunday.