Line of Duty Deaths of FDNY
Firefighters Lt. Joseph Cavaleiri, FF Christopher Bopp and
Firefighter James Bohan from Ladder 170, who died in the line of
duty, December 18, 1998. They were horrifically killed while they
were operating on the 10th floor of an occupied multiple dwelling.
Firefighter Bohan, Firefighter Bopp, and Lieutenant Cavalieri were
operating at that residential high-rise structure fire....they went
to the 10th floor to search for victims and they were caught in a
massive blast of heavy heat and smoke that killed all 3 men. The
heavy fire and heat conditions may been propelled by a gust of wind
coming through the fire apartment. The automatic closing device on
the apartment door had been removed or had malfunctioned. The
building’s hallway sprinklers did not activate due to a closed
valve. Six other Firefighters were injured in the fire.

All three were working in Ladder Company 170 of the Fire Department of New York on December 18, 1998, when they made the supreme sacrifice.  They were doing everything right when suddenly everything went wrong.  They are remembered, and they are missed.

Firefighter Bohan, Firefighter Bopp, and Lieutenant Cavalieri were killed while fighting a residential high-rise structure fire. As they rushed to the tenth floor to search for victims, they were overcome by a wave of heat and smoke that killed all three. The heat wave, or fireball, may have been propelled by a gust of wind coming through the fire apartment.The automatic closing device on the apartment door had been removed or had malfunctioned. The building’s hallway sprinklers did not activate due to a closed valve. Six firefighters were injured in the fire. Excerp from web sitet of U.S.F.A. National Fire Data Center