FF who Survived FDNY's Largest Tragedy Before 9/11 Dies

The only member of the engine company who survived the FDNY's largest loss of firefighters in the line of duty before Sept. 11, 2001, has died, the department announced Friday.

Retired Capt. Manuel Fernandez was the chauffeur of Engine 18, which responded to the five-alarm 23rd Street Fire in Manhattan on Oct. 17, 1966. Twelve FDNY firefighters died when the ground floor of the Wonder Drug Store collapsed during the blaze.

A co-founder of the FDNY Hispanic Society, Fernandez was serving as the second president of the group when the tragedy happened, according to the FDNY. Following the fire, he helped establish the Hispanic Society Memorial Medal, which was redesigned and renamed the Hispanic Society 23rd Street Fire Memorial Medal to honor those firefighters who died. The re-imagined award was given out in 2015, and it has been awarded annually at the department's Medal Day Ceremony.

Joining the FDNY in 1960, Fernandez served with the department for 29 years.⁣ Details concerning his death were not released by the department.