Peter J. Ganci Jr.

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Peter Ganci, Jr.
Fire Department New York
SpouseKathleen[1]
Children3[1]
Firefighter career
DepartmentNew York City Fire Department
Service years1968 (1968)–2001 (2001)
RankChief of Department

Peter James Ganci Jr. (October 27, 1946 – September 11, 2001) was a career firefighter in the New York City Fire Department killed in the September 11 attacks. At the time of the attacks, he held the rank of Chief of Department, the highest ranking uniformed fire officer in the department.[2]

Early life

Peter James Ganci Jr. was born on October 27, 1946, and raised in Farmingdale, New York.[3]

Career

Prior to joining the Fire Department, Ganci served in the 82nd Airborne Division.[1][4] Having never been deployed, Ganci was on leave at home with a firefighter friend who told him about the death of four firefighters from Engine 18 in the 23rd Street Fire in Manhattan. Ganci, at that moment, realized that there is a dangerous aspect to fighting fires as well.[5] While still a volunteer with the Farmingdale Fire Department, Ganci was with the same friend one day who told him he was planning to transfer to another station in the city. Following the conversation and his discharge from the Army in 1968, Ganci signed up and was accepted into the New York City Fire Department in 1968.[6]

Ganci joined the New York City Fire Department in 1968,

Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. In 1994 Ganci was made the head of the Bureau of Fire Investigation following the appointment as fire commissioner of Howard Safir, who needed a uniformed chief to address conflicts between fire marshals and uniformed firefighters, a conflict whose resolution Safir credits to Ganci. In January 1997 Ganci replaced his boss Donald Burns as Chief of Operations, the second highest uniformed position in the Fire Department.[2][10]

During the September 11 attacks

Ganci's name is located on Panel S-17 of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum’s South Pool, along with those of other first responders.

On the morning of the attacks, Ganci's best friend and executive assistant, Steve Mosiello, was going to drive Ganci to court, where Ganci had been scheduled for jury duty.

William Feehan.[12]

Ganci and Feehan were killed when the North Tower collapsed at 10:28 a.m.[12] After a rescue dog located Ganci's body,[13] Ganci's fire team, including Mosiello, pulled it from beneath four feet of debris.[11][12] Ganci's former supervisor, Howard Safir, commented that Ganci "would never ask anyone to do something he didn't do himself. It didn't surprise me that he was right at the front lines. You would never see Pete five miles away, in some command center."[2]

Ganci was survived by his sisters, Mary Dougherty and Ellen Ganci, his brothers, Dan and Jim,[12] his wife, Kathleen, their sons, Peter Ganci III (a firefighter assigned to Ladder Company 111 in Brooklyn) and Christopher (also a firefighter in the FDNY[1][14][15]), and their daughter Danielle,[1][2] who lived with Ganci in Massapequa, New York.[2]

Legacy and memorials

Manas Air Base in Kyrgyzstan was unofficially renamed for him as Ganci Air Base.[16]

On Memorial Day in 2003, the post office at 380 Main Street in Farmingdale, New York, was named for him.[17][18][19]

In 2003 Ganci's son, Chris Ganci, wrote a biography of Ganci.[20][21]

At the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, Ganci is memorialized at the South Pool, on Panel S-17.[22]

On September 8, 2020, it was announced that the James Gordon Bennett Medal for conspicuous bravery would be renamed for Ganci.[23]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Davis, Jo Ann (September 9, 2002). "Peter J Ganci Jr Post Office Building". C-SPAN. Archived from the original on July 25, 2011. Retrieved February 14, 2011. Prior to joining the New York City Fire Department, Ganci served in the Farmingdale Fire Department as a volunteer and in the 82nd Airborne Division. Ganci served in the New York Fire Department for 33 years and was decorated repeatedly for bravery.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Glenn Collins (2001-09-13). "Peter J. Ganci, 54, Fire Chief, While Leading Tower Rescue". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2011-01-20. Chief Ganci was placed in charge of the Bureau of Fire Investigation in 1994 after Mr. Safir was appointed fire commissioner. 'There was a problem between the fire marshals and the uniformed firefighters,' Mr. Safir said. 'I needed a uniformed chief who could bring them together. It was a highly charged situation, and in months, he turned the fire marshals into a great operation.'
  3. ISBN 9781598849219. Archived from the original on August 2, 2022. Retrieved August 2, 2022 – via Google Books
    .
  4. ISBN 9781591583110
    . Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  5. ^ "19th Anniversary of September 11" (PDF). FDNYs Bravest. Division 7: Training and Safety Newsletter. September 2020. p. 2. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  6. ^ "19th Anniversary of September 11" (PDF). FDNYs Bravest. Division 7: Training and Safety Newsletter. September 2020. p. 3. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  7. ^ "Peter J. Ganci Jr". National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. 2003. Archived from the original on July 11, 2018. Retrieved July 25, 2021.
  8. ^ "Peter J. Ganci Jr". The Wall Street Journal. October 11, 2001. Archived from the original on July 12, 2017. Retrieved July 25, 2021.
  9. ISBN 978-1-56311-832-6
  10. Daily News. New York. Archived
    from the original on 2011-08-15. Retrieved 2011-02-13. Burns' deputy, Assistant Chief Peter Ganci, will be named to replace his boss in the $166,800-a-year post, department sources said.
  11. ^ a b c d "WTC survivors recall day of terror". CNN. 2001. Retrieved March 3, 2014.
  12. ^ a b c d e f Searcey, Dionne (2001). "Remembering 9/11: Long Island Remembers: Peter J. Ganci Jr." (Archived 2014-10-20 at the Wayback Machine). Newsday. Retrieved March 3, 2014.
  13. ^ Atkins, Stephen E. (June 2, 2011). The 9/11 Encyclopedia: Second Edition. Second Edition. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. p. 146. Google Books. Retrieved March 3, 2014.
  14. ^ "Daniel Nigro Named 33rd Fire Commissioner". New York City Fire Department. 9 May 2014. Archived from the original on 12 May 2014. Retrieved 12 May 2014.
  15. ^ Kemp, Joe; Armaghan, Sarah (30 May 2012). "FDNY promotions include Chris Ganci, whose father, Peter Ganci, died at Ground Zero on 9/11". Daily News. New York. Retrieved 12 May 2014.
  16. ^ "Manas International Airport". GlobalSecurity.org. November 2001. Retrieved April 29, 2021.
  17. ^ Duleavy, Steve (May 27, 2003). "BAPTISM OF RAIN AND TEARS HONORS 9/11 CHIEF". New York Post.
  18. Farmingdale Observer
    .
  19. U.S. Government Printing Office
    . October 15, 2002.
  20. ISBN 9781591583110
    . Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  21. ISBN 978-0-439-44386-9
    . Retrieved 2011-02-13.
  22. ^ Peter James Ganci Jr. Archived 2013-07-27 at the Wayback Machine. Memorial Guide: National September 11 Memorial & Museum. Retrieved October 28, 2011.
  23. ^ Edelman, Susan et al (September 8, 2020). "FDNY Renames Highest Medal After Calling Namesake 'Racist'". New York Post.

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