The FDNY promoted 53 firefighters on Monday, including three legacy members who lost fathers and brothers during the 9/11 attacks.
The trio — Thomas Riches, Joseph Jurgens and Christopher Otten — joined scores of New York’s Bravest as they received their new ranks: 32 firefighters were elevated to lieutenants, and 21 lieutenants were officially made captains.
At a morning ceremony at the department’s Randall’s Island academy, New York City Fire Commissioner Robert S. Tucker told the group that the “future of the department depends on your leadership.”
“Some of you are continuing your family’s legacy. Some of you have carved your own path, uniquely your own,” Tucker said. “We’re counting on you to bring your experience, expertise and leadership skills to every incident, both in the firehouse and on the fire ground.
“We are counting on you to manage and protect the members who you lead every day. And most importantly, we are counting on you to carry out the standards critical to the lifesaving mission of our department.”
The day was especially important for the three whose family members died on Sept. 11 — including Riches, a newly-promoted captain who lost his oldest brother, Jimmie Jr., during the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.
“It’s a happy day for the department, but when we get promoted, you know the faces that are missing,” Riches said. “We honor them.”
“It’s the cumulation of a lot of training throughout our careers, time away from our families — and it’s not just us that do it,” he added. “It’s everyone that pitches in along the way for our careers.”
Riches, whose father and two surviving brothers are retired firefighters, will serve as a captain in the 15th Division in Brooklyn.
On Monday, his dad — retired FDNY Deputy Chief Jimmie Riches Sr. — held the Bible for him as he took the oath.
“I felt good,” Riches said about having his dad on stage. “I knew he was proud of me, but I know he knows what’s missing [in regards to Jimmie Jr.].”
“It’s emotional for me,” added Riches, a decorated firefighter who received a lifesaving medal in June for saving three kids from a fire a year earlier.
“It’s emotional for him, too.”
Joseph Jurgens, a new captain who lost his court officer brother, Sgt. Thomas Jurgens, during 9/11, and Christopher Otten, a new lieutenant who lost his dad Michael Otten of Ladder 35 during the attack, rounded out those with ties to the heinous plot that killed nearly 3,000.
The attack hit the FDNY particularly hard, killing 343 firefighters that day — with about 370 more dying from 9/11-related illness in the years afterward.
Otten’s brother, Ladder 127’s Johnathan Otten, held the Bible as he took his oath.
“As you take this next important step in your career, you continue to honor their legacies and remain committed and to promise to never forget,” Chief of Department John Esposito told the crowd.
“You are leaders in this department and I expect you to lead towards greatness,” Esposito added. “Make smart decisions. Protect your people and protect yourself.”
