Robert Peter Neary

Lieutenant Neary and his ladder company were assigned to work at a multiple alarm fire in a 5-story building. Once on-scene, ladder pipe operations were set up and Lieutenant Neary and other firefighters were assigned to check for fire extension in an exposure building. A catastrophic collapse of the fire building occurred and the exposure building was struck by falling debris. Lieutenant Neary, Firefighter Sweeney and two other firefighters were trapped in the collapse. Other firefighters rescued the trapped firefighters from the building. Lieutenant Neary and Firefighter Sweeney were killed in the collapse. The cause of death for both firefighters was mechanical asphyxia. Incident Location: York Street and York Street (USNG: 18S VK 887 262).