Longtime UWS Firefighter Dies From 9/11-Related Illness

UPPER WEST SIDE, MANHATTAN — A longtime firefighter with Ladder 25 on the Upper West Side has died from illness related to his time as a first responder in the 9/11 terror attacks, the FDNY confirmed.

Firefighter Richard J. Jones, who was 63 years old, died on Friday.

Jones had been assigned to Ladder 25 before he retired in October 2002, a year after responding to the September 11, 2001 terror attacks on the World Trade Center.

In his 20 year career with the department, Jones was awarded three acts of merit in 1992 and 1997, the FDNY said.

The Upper West Side firefighter died the same day as another 9/11 first responder from Queens, Lt. Paul W. Deo Jr., the department said.

Deo had served with Engine 317 in St. Albans and had been with the department for 33 years before retiring in September 2002, the FDNY Said. He was 74 years old when he died, also from illnesses related to 9/11.

"Nearly two decades later, our FDNY family continues to lose remarkable men and women who never wavered in their commitment to protecting life and property in our city," FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro said in a statement about their deaths. "Our department will never forget them or the bravery they exuded throughout their careers."

Jones and Deo are among hundreds of 9/11 first responders who have died after being sickened at Ground Zero.

A bill introduced by Manhattan U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney to extend the Victim Compensation Fund that gives healthcare to the families of the first responders became law last summer.

The bill will keep the fund running through the 2090 fiscal year, giving victims and their families until October 2089 to file claims. The fund is currently slated to expire in 2020.

The measure would also make claimants whole if their payments were reduced because of insufficient funding. The vote followed an aggressive push by New York lawmakers and advocates to aid sickened 9/11 first-responders with the fund on the brink of running out of money.