9/11 hero fire chief mentors sons and daughters of his friends killed in Twin Towers disaster

9/11 hero fire chief mentors sons and daughters of his friends killed in Twin Towers disaster EXCLUSIVE: A fire chief that's still working for FDNY is helping to mentor sons and daughters of firefighter friends who died on 9/11 - 25 years after the disaster that shocked the world There’s not a day goes by that fire chief Steve Sullivan doesn’t fully realise that he’s the luckiest man alive. He survived the 9/11 attacks in the most extraordinary circumstances. And ever since then he has tried to make sure he passes on all his experience, friendship and love to young firefighters in his care. He’s 60 now - most firemen have long retired but not Steve. He is Division Commander of Division 6 of the Fire Department of New York - south Bronx and Harlem. Some of the young firefighters are sons - and a daughter - of colleagues who didn’t make it. Quite simply, Steve shouldn’t be alive. He was due to work on September 11 on Squad 41. But on the morning of 9/11, he was called at home to say he had to travel to Squad 288 to cover men having medicals. He was driving between the two fire stations when the Twin Towers were hit. Every single member of Squad 41 was killed. Every single member of Squad 288 was killed. The incredible quirk of fate gave Steve the chance to watch his children - then four-year-old twin girls and two year old daughter - grow up. The sheer enormity of the tragedy was illustrated as we left his fire station on Melrose Avenue in the Bronx. A young firefighter was arriving early for his shift. After he shook his hand Steve said: “His dad died after 9/11 - he was a firefighter and got cancer.” He said: “I really do think about the guys who died all the time. I try to do my best. I try to do my best job. I spend a lot of time with training and, you know, especially with newer members. I always want them to know about the guys who came before them. “I think it's a ‘legacy’ job. The firehouse I'm in now there are people who lost their dads either on September 11th, or from an illness after September 11th.” He went on: “I have a number of guys that I worked with that their kids are on the job now. I'm pretty old and I've been doing this for... I'm in my 35th year. And not just not sons. “I have one of my closest friend’s daughter is in the fire department now and she works in Queens and I couldn't be more proud of her. And I keep in touch and I try, without being overbearing, to see how she's doing and try to keep up with her. And I talk to her mom just to find out how she's doing without bothering her." Steve battled some guilt issues because he survived. He said: “It was almost like I didn't deserve to have a story because I was home. I got home to my family on September 12th. “I had lost some really, really good friends. And I knew their wives and their kids. And I never wanted any kind of focus on me. But I try to live my life in memory of my friends who died. I try to live my life that way. I think about all of them all the time. “There are certain guys that I can't help but laugh when I think about them. And I try to stay in touch with their wives. And, you know, it's 25 years for those wives too. “And, you know, some of them have remarried and they've been able to have a life since then. And I'm very happy for all of them that, you know, they were able to bounce. You know, I don't know that you get over it, but they were able to have full lives after it.” Steve, who is originally from Co Kerry is married to Patricia and they have twin daughters Erin and Colleen, 29, and Bridget, 27. He explained what happened: “I was the extra man that morning and I received a call to go from my usual work at Squad 41 in the Bronx to Squad 288 over in Queens. "They had some men having medicals and needed cover so that was the reason I was switched and that decision obviously saved my life. I was driving and I had a music station on and it was interrupted to say a plane had gone into one of the World Trade Center buildings and there was a fire. "I was on the BQ Expressway and I had a hit a ton of traffic. I had my cellphone with me and I tried to call both firehouses, but there was no answer from either. "I was closer to Squad 288 so I continued driving in that direction. That was when the second plane hit and I realised that we were being attacked. I got to the firehouse and climbed in a window. The other guys had already gone and I started to load one of 288's vehicles with tools and masks. "From our quarters we had a clear view of the burning buildings. When I saw the South Tower come down it was by far the worst moment of my life. "I knew that not only had many civilians died, but many of my friends and colleagues. I rode into lower Manhattan with other members of Squad 288 who had come in and we were almost there when the North Tower came down.” Later Steve got into Manhattan and helped the rescue mission. He said he wasn’t able to reach his wife for hours to let her know he’s survived. He said: “I had a cell phone but it wasn't operating, I couldn't get through to her, so it was probably four o'clock in the afternoon by the time I finally was able to find a payphone and I called her and, you know, told her that I was okay but, you know, I told her that we had lost a lot of people.” He knew on 9/11 that he had lost his closest pals on Squad 41. But it wasn’t until the next day that he realised all the men on Squad 288 had died as well.