A Brother Turned Hero

 

FF Michael Elferis 

Engine 22 - FDNY 

End of Watch: September 11, 2001

It may be difficult for some to remember but on Father's Day 2001 the FDNY suffered a grievous loss of life.  It was on that date that firefighters John Downing, Brian Fahey, and Harry Ford were killed in the line of duty while responding to an inferno at a hardware store in Astoria, Queens.  In response to that catastrophe, Firefighter Michael Elferis wrote a poem in honor of his fallen brothers: 

The Rage of the Fire

The rage of the fire 

This demon we fight

A battle in war

With no end in sight.

Brothers turned heroes

Not knowing we won

Now angels in heaven

From a battle that's done.

So we hope to continue

With their courage and pride

Knowing there's no greater job

Than the FDNY. 

FF Michael Elferis was born in New York City and lived his entire far-too-short-life there.  On September 11, 2001, he was one of the 343 members of the FDNY killed at the World Trade Center while saving others.  He was only twenty-seven years old.  

He attended college at a school near and dear to my heart, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, which is my son's Alma mater.  Before becoming FF Elferis, he was Police Officer Elferis, protecting and serving the people of New York City as a member of the NYPD in Manhattan's 10th Precinct.  In doing so, he followed in the footsteps of his brother Robert, also a NYPD officer.    He joined the FDNY after two years in the NYPD.  

In September 2001, FF Elferis was a member of Manhattan's Engine 22.   He was killed at the World Trade Center alongside other members of his firehouse.  On Thanksgiving night 2001, his body was recovered in the rubble of ground zero alongside the body of Vincent Kane, one of his brothers from Engine 22.   

Michael Elferis died a month shy of his 28th birthday.  He was survived by his parents, Robert and Mary, his brothers Robert and Joseph, and his sisters Elizabeth and Nancy.  Their angel in heaven.  Their brother turned hero.  

-AK