From a small town in Connecticut to the greatest Fire Department in the world, FDNY.  In Tim’s words…

“In my early teenage years I was lost.  I had no mission, no purpose, no direction or dreams, living in a small town in Connecticut that offered me what I believed was little or no future. One day when I was 15 years old, the local volunteer fire department responded to a house fire across the street from where we lived. I was with my high school friend Jay Walsh at the fire scene and he told me I should become a Junior Firefighter with him. That one comment changed my life. Shortly after, I became a Junior Firefighter.  I get on the straight path.  All of a sudden, I had a mission, a purpose, a direction and a new dream in my life.

On top of becoming a Junior Firefighter, I also became an EMT on our volunteer ambulance service and I started taking tests to become a professional/paid firefighter. I was lucky enough to be able to live at the West Haven, CT firehouse while attending college at the University of New Haven in exchange for time riding on the firetrucks. West Haven CT Fire Chief William “Wiggy” Johnson became an amazing mentor and father figure to me and encouraged me to follow my ultimate dream of becoming a New York City firefighter. I studied harder than I’d ever studied for anything before in my life for the FDNY written exam and was rewarded by getting 100% of the answers correct. I worked out harder than I’d ever worked out before for the physical exam, and was rewarded with getting perfect score on that as well. I was on my way to becoming a proud member of the greatest fire department in the world, the FDNY.

The FDNY swore me in on July 11, 1984. It would quickly become the best job I ever had. It also would test me in ways I never expected. But with His grace, I have been able to make it through.   Through speaking, I tell my story, and the story of my friends who lost their lives on Sept. 11, 2001.”