By John Tozzi
On Monday, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta dedicated plaques to Lt. Curtis Meyran and Lt. John Bellew, who was originally from Howard Beach, at a ceremony at the Bronx firehouse of their unit, Engine 46 and Ladder 27. Both died after jumping from a fourth-floor apartment window while battling a three-alarm blaze in the Tremont section of the Bronx.Bloomberg and Scoppetta Tuesday honored Firefighter Richard Sclafani, a Bayside resident, who was killed the same day fighting a basement fire in East New York, Brooklyn, with other members of Ladder 103.The day was the most lethal the Fire Department has seen since Sept. 11, 2001.”Every day firefighters risk their lives for people they've never met,” Bloomberg said in a statement. “Jan. 23rd was no different.”Bellew, Meyran and four other firefighters became trapped on the fourth floor of an apartment at 236 East 178th St. in the Bronx on that Sunday morning while they were searching for victims. The smoke and flames forced them to jump from the building's rear windows. Meyran and Bellew later died at St. Barnabas Hospital, and the other four, including Flushing native Firefighter Brendan Cawley, sustained serious injuries.Sclafani was searching a basement at 577 Jerome St. in East New York when he became separated from other members of Ladder 103. He was found unconscious shortly afterward on a cellar staircase and later died at Brookdale Hospital.”Though Richie Sclafani was first and foremost a son and a brother, he also chose to become a member of a second family-the New York City Fire Department,” Scoppetta said in a statement. “He will forever be remembered for his selfless courage and commitment to protect and save others.”Sclafani, a 37-year-old Astoria native who lived in Bayside at the time of his death, was a 10-year veteran of the Fire Department. He is survived by his mother Joan and his sister JoAnn Sclafani-Asch.Bellew, also 37, was originally from Howard Beach and attended Archbishop Molloy High School. A 10-year Fire Department veteran, he was posthumously promoted to lieutenant because he had passed the civil service exam and would have been promoted less than two months after his death, Scoppetta said. He lived in Rockland County at the time of his death, and he is survived by his wife Eileen and four children.Meyran, a Long Island resident, had been on the force 15 years when he died. He had already been cited twice for bravery.”Curtis Meyran and John Bellew are the definition of courage,” Scoppetta said in a statement. He said dedicating plaques to the three men “is our way of reaffirming a commitment that we will never forget our fallen members and their families.”After Black Sunday, some critics charged that the Fire Department failed to provide the men with equipment that could have saved their lives, including personal rope systems. Firefighters began training with the ropes last fall, but the program was suspended in October after a safety malfunction.Reach reporter John Tozzi by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300 Ext. 188.
