New York City Fire Department Ladder Company 3

In the New York City Fire Department (FDNY), Ladder Company 3, also known as "Recon", is a fire company and one of two ladder companies in the FDNY's 6th Battalion, 1st Division. It is housed at 108 E. 13th St., along with Battalion Chief 6, and has firefighting stewardship over a several square block area of Manhattan’s East Village. The company was created on September 11, 1865, and is one of New York’s oldest ladder companies.[1]

FDNY Ladder 3

Agency overview
Established	September 11, 1865
Employees	25
Facilities and equipment
Stations	108 E. 13th St, New York City, New York
Trucks	1

During the September 11 attacks, the company reported to the North Tower of the World Trade Center.[2] As the attacks came during a shift change, both shifts remained on duty, and the company arrived at the World Trade Center carrying more men usual. Captain Patrick Brown and his men were last known to be on the 35th floor of the tower before the North Tower collapsed. Ladder Company 3 received some of the heaviest casualties of any fire company in the FDNY, losing most of its men.[3]

Ladder Company 3’s fire engine was parked on West Street and damaged beyond repair by the collapse of the Twin Towers. It spent ten years housed at Hangar 17 at John F. Kennedy International Airport.

In 2011, ten years after the September 11 attacks, Ladder Company 3's fire truck was made part of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. The flag-covered, 60,000-pound was lowered by crane 70 feet below ground and observed by firefighters, victims’ families and other bystanders. It is intended to represent the members it lost on September 11 as well as all FDNY casualties.[4]

Sheathed in plastic and US and FDNY flags, Ladder 3's fire engine is prepared to be lowered into the National September 11 Memorial & Museum

Ladder 3's destroyed fire engine at its final resting place at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum