9/11 FDNY hero Thomas Phelan, a who evacuated hundreds of people in lower Manhattan after the terrorist attack, has died of cancer at 45. News of his death on Friday came with word that two FDNY members died in Iraq while serving with the Air National Guard.
Some believed that Phelan's cancer was related to his exposure to poisonous fumes around Ground Zero when two jet airliners crashed into the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, the New York Daily News reported.
Phelan was working as a Statue of Liberty ferry captain at the time of the incident, and used his boat to bring supplies and rescue workers to the scene as well as evacuate people, the Daily News said, quoting New York City's Fire Wire Facebook page.
Two New York City firefighters were killed along with five other U.S. military personnel in Iraq in a helicopter crash, officials confirmed Friday, CBS News reported.
FDNY Lt. Christopher J. Raguso, a 13-year veteran of the fire department, and Fire Marshal Christopher T. "Tripp" Zanetis, a 10-year veteran, were among those killed in the crash, per CBS News.
Fire department spokesman Jim Long told CNN that Phelan was working for Circle Line Statue of Liberty ferry cruises when he helped ferry people from Lower Manhattan.
The Daily News said Phelan joined the Fire Department of New York in May 2003, where he was assigned to Engine Co. 55 and then to Marine 9 in Staten Island, where he worked as a pilot.
CNN said thousands of people in New York City have been diagnosed with cancers linked to the terrorist attack, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's World Trade Center Health Program.
Exposure to known and suspected carcinogens and pollutants after the attacks have been suspected in many of the cancer diagnoses, CNN said.
First responders, emergency responders, recovery and cleanup workers, and volunteers who helped in the aftermath of the attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and the crash site near Shanksville, Pennsylvania have been possible victims of the cancer, per CNN.
In all, 2,977 people were killed in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania during the 9/11 terrorist attack, orchestrated by al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, per CNN.
New York City mayor Bill de Blasio announced his condolences on social media.
The Uniformed Firefighters Association stated on Twitter that the funeral service for Phelan will be held Tuesday at St. Michael's Church in Brooklyn.
Others shared their condolences on social media.
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