The FDNY commemorates the 25th anniversary of the Father’s Day Fire at Queens ceremony

June 17, 2026

The FDNY marked the 25th anniversary of the Father's Day Fire with a commemoration ceremony and wreath-laying on June 17, 2026, in Queens. In 2001, Firefighters Harry S. Ford and Brian D. Fahey from Rescue 4, and Firefighter John J. Downing from Ladder 163, were killed while operating at a fire in a hardware store when a basement explosion caused the two-story brick structure to collapse. The three firefighters, all fathers, left behind eight children between them.