Union fire director recounts five hero stories and warns of ongoing health toll from 9/11

Union Fire Director Raul Malave III used the Township of Union's 25th‑anniversary remembrance to recount five stories of heroism from 9/11 and to underscore continuing health consequences for responders and recovery workers. He described the choices made by first responders and ordinary citizens who ran toward danger and said the community has a duty to pass those stories to new generations.

Malave cited concrete figures during his remarks: “2,977 innocent souls lost that day,” he said, and added that “Another number, 343. That's the number of FDNY members who answered the alarm and never returned.” He also noted that identifications of victims continue—he referenced a recent New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner identification as the 1,654th World Trade Center victim to be positively identified—and warned that “people continue to become sick and they continue to die” from exposures after the attacks.

Why it mattered: the director tied individual stories—Steven Siller's run to the towers, Orio Palmer’s and Ronald Buka’s climbs, Mariah Smith's evacuations, Alan Wallace's work at the Pentagon and Todd Beamer's actions on Flight 93—to a sustained public obligation: remembering victims and caring for those who carry long‑term health effects.