Patty has been involved in many rescues in his 20 year career. In May of 1991, he was involved in a rope rescue at a fire in Times Square on West 48 Street. The officer working that day, Lt. Pat Brown gave the order to have a firefighter lowered by roof-rope to rescue a panicky civilian ready to jump from the 12th floor. This rescue is affected by tying off the roof-rope to a substantial object to be used as an anchor. But because they didn't have this advantage, the substantial object was going to be the remainder of the firefighters on the roof.
Firefighter O'Keefe tied the rope onto his belt harness and sat on the roof between with his back to the bulkhead and his feet on the parpet wall. The other firemen layed down on top of Firefighter O'Keefe to add more weight and to keep him stationary. As Firefighter Kevin Shea was lowered off the roof O'Keefe was raised because of the weight of Shea going over the roof. The rescue was a success as the man was "picked off" by FF Shea and together were both lowered down to the 11th floor.
On January 7th, 1997, history repeated itself. Rescue Co. 1 responded to 1 Lincoln Plaza in Manhattan for a fire on the 28th floor. Upon arrival, there were reports of two trapped females on the 28th floor adjacent to the fire apartment. Because of the heavy fire and smoke condition that existed on the 28th floor, firefighters were unable to reach the two females. Rescue 1 under the command of Lieutenant Dennis Mojica along with Firefighters O'Keefe, Sussina, Fredericksen, Forsyth, and Civitillo (detailed from R-2) went to the 29th floor.
At the 29th floor, Rescue 1 members entered an apartment directly above the two women. Lt. Mojica gave the order to have a firefighter lowered to the 28th floor where the women were located. FF Sussina was assigned the roof position and was getting ready to be lowered. Just like the roof-rope rescue in 1991, there was no substantial object to tie the rope off to. Instead, the rope was tied to FF O'Keefe's harness and in the same fashion, O'Keefe sat on the apartment floor and planted his feet to the wall. Under the supervision of Lt. Mojica, FF Sussina was successfully lowered to the 28th floor. FF O'Keefe then lowered two SCBA air paks (Self Contained Breathing Apparatus) for the women to use. Rescue Company 1 received a Unit Citation for their actions.
There are many Patty O'Keefe stories to mention. As you can see, he was the opitome of a firefighter. On September 11, 2001, he one of the many emergency service workers who did not return. You will always be rememembered as a "Rescue Fireman". May you rest in eternal peace Patty.
Firefighter O'Keefe (2nd from left)
