Grant funding provided in partnership with the Leary Firefighters Foundation with support from Sterling Rope

The Lt. Joseph P. DiBernardo Memorial Foundation is pleased to announce its grant award to the Burdett Fire Department (NY). This grant, in the amount of $12,782, was provided by the Foundation in partnership with the Leary Firefighters Foundation and with the support of Sterling Rope. Grant funding will provide department members with personal life safety rope systems and related training.

Now in it its third year, the Lt. Joseph P. DiBernardo Memorial Foundation grant program has awarded over $39,000 to departments. Established in Joey’s memory in 2012, the Lt. Joseph P. DiBernardo Memorial Foundation holds training events that promote firefighter to raise funds to support its grant program. It also relies on the generous support of our sponsors and partners to help train and equip firefighters.

In 2005, Lt. Joseph P. DiBernardo, known to his friends and colleagues as “Joey D,” was critically injured in a Bronx apartment fire where two firefighters perished and three others were also badly injured. A personal safety rope system, carried by fellow Rescue 3 Firefighter Jeff Cool, helped both Joey and Jeff to escape the flames by lowering themselves as far as they could from the four-story jump. After the incident, Joey traveled around the country training firefighters and sharing his story to help other firefighters. His foundation will continue this work, helping firefighters in the United States and Canada.

In August 2012, New York Governor Cuomo, signed into law a measure to provide New York firefighters with personal safety rope systems or emergency escape systems in the event they become trapped in an elevated structure fire.

"I would like to thank everyone who has supported the Foundation and its mission to keep firefighters safe. Together we carry on Joey's legacy and work to prevent other tragedies from occurring ," says Chief Joe DiBernardo, Foundation president and Joey's father.

The Lt. Joseph P. DiBernardo Memorial Foundation will continue to train firefighters and provide grants to departments to ensure the safety of firefighters across the United States and Canada. To learn more about the Lt. Joseph P. DiBernardo Memorial Foundation’s grant program for personal life safety rope systems or to apply visit: www.joeydfoundation.org.

Lt. Joseph P. DiBernardo Memorial Foundation provides equipment and training

On Sunday, January 23, 2005, six FDNY firefighters were forced to jump from a four-story Bronx tenement after they became trapped by fire while searching for victims in illegally divided rooms. Lt. Curtis Meyran and Firefighter John Bellew died from their injuries that day. Firefighters Eugene Stolowski, Brendan Cawley, Jeff Cool, and Joseph P. "Joey" DiBernardo were critically injured. Later that day, Firefighter Rich Sclafani died in a house fire in Brooklyn, making it the deadliest day for FDNY since September 11, 2001; the day became known as "Black Sunday."

A personal life safety rope carried by Firefighter Jeff Cool helped both he and Joseph DiBernardo to lessen the height of their fall. After the incident, Joey was promoted to lieutenant and continued to train firefighters across the country as a well known fire service instructor. Although, he still lived with the trauma of Black Sunday, he shared his story and stressed the importance of personal life safety ropes and training. However, the effects of that tragic day continued and on November 22, 2011, Joseph DiBernardo died from his Black Sunday injuries at the age of 40.

After Joey's death, a non-profit foundation was established in his memory in 2012 to keep firefighters safe. The Lt. Joseph P. DiBernardo Memorial Foundation, carries on his legacy by training firefighters and providing grants to departments for personal life safety rope systems and training. An annual seminar is held to raise funds, along with the generous support of sponsors and individual donors. Since 2012, grants totaling over $27,000 have already been awarded to two departments in need.

Ten years later, firefighters from across the country will gather at the Hyatt Long Island on May 29 – 30, 2015, to train and remember Joey DiBernardo. Deputy Chief Joe DiBernardo, Joey's dad and Foundation president, says "it's hard to believe a decade has passed since the fire. There has been so much pain, suffering, tears and memories experienced by the survivors, families, and friends since that day. They will never be forgotten and Joey will live on through the work of his Foundation." For more information about the Lt. Joseph P. DiBernardo Memorial Foundation and the 2015 seminar visit www.joeydfoundation.org.

[gallery ids="1614,1615,1616,1617,1618,1619"]

After it's first grant award in May 2014 to the Mt. Hope Fire Department in Otisville, NY, the Lt. Joseph P. DiBernardo Memorial Foundation is happy to report that firefighters received training for their new equipment. Grant funds provided 14 personal life safety rope systems to protect Mount Hope’s operational members and provide training to use their new equipment.

The Lt. Joseph P. DiBernardo Memorial Foundation, established in Joey’s memory in 2012, “carries on Joey’s legacy by training firefighters and providing funds to departments in need of life safety rope systems,” says Chief Joe DiBernardo. Grants funds will help departments which do not have the financial means to provide this important life-saving equipment.

To ensure the safety of firefighters across the United States and Canada, the Lt. Joseph P. DiBernardo Memorial Foundation will continue to train firefighters and provide grants to departments in need of safety equipment. To learn more about the Lt. Joseph P. DiBernardo Memorial Foundation’s grant program for personal life safety rope systems or to apply visit: www.joeydfoundation.org.

Funds will provide life saving equipment and training to firefighters

[wpnewcarousel name="montour" width="800" height="600"]

On October 23, 2014, the Montour Falls Fire Department received a grant from the Lt. Joseph P. DiBernardo Memorial Foundation through its partnership with the Leary Firefighters Foundation and with the support of Sterling Rope. The grant, in the amount of $13,812, will provide personal life safety rope systems and related training to 18 department members.

In 2005, Lt. Joseph P. DiBernardo, known to his friends and colleagues as “Joey D,” was critically injured in a Bronx apartment fire where two firefighters perished and three others were also badly injured. A personal safety rope system, carried by fellow Rescue 3 Firefighter Jeff Cool, helped both Joey and Jeff to escape the flames by lowering themselves as far as they could from the four-story jump. After the incident, Joey traveled around the country training firefighters and sharing his story to help other firefighters. His foundation will continue this work, helping firefighters in the United States and Canada.

Established in Joey’s memory in 2012, the Lt. Joseph P. DiBernardo Memorial Foundation holds training events that promote firefighter to raise funds to support its grant program. It also relies on the generous support of our sponsors and partners to help train and equip firefighters. Chief Joe DiBernardo, Foundation president and Joey's father, thanks supporters for what they have done to "carry on Joey's legacy of training firefighters and stressing the importance of life safety rope systems." These grants will help departments that do not have the financial means to provide this life-saving equipment.

In August 2012, New York Governor Cuomo, signed into law a measure to provide New York firefighters with personal safety rope systems or emergency escape systems in the event they become trapped in an elevated structure fire.

To ensure the safety of firefighters across the United States and Canada, the Lt. Joseph P. DiBernardo Memorial Foundation will continue to train firefighters and provide grants to departments in need of safety equipment. To learn more about the Lt. Joseph P. DiBernardo Memorial Foundation’s grant program for personal life safety rope systems or to apply visit: www.joeydfoundation.org.