The Long Year of Rescue 5

The Rescue 5 truck, repaired after being damaged Sept. 11, brings firefighters back to the firehouse, built in 1913.  (GARY FRIEDMAN / LAT)

At the memorial services for Rescue 5 firefighter John Bergin on Oct. 20, 2001, a flag flies between two firetruck ladders.  (GARY FRIEDMAN / LAT)

Months after the attacks, firefighter Joe Esposito, 39, returns from the recovery site in the Rescue 5 truck. “Tomorrow, maybe, we’ll find something,” he says. Esposito was on vacation Sept. 11, working a side job. He raced to the station and two hours after arriving at the site, Esposito learned that his brother was missing. His partial remains would later be identified through DNA testing. A cousin of Esposito’s was also among the 343 firefighters who died.  (GARY FRIEDMAN / LAT)

In the firehouse kitchen, Esposito horses around with colleague Bill Spade, 43, the only survivor among the dozen Rescue 5 men who reached the towers before they collapsed.  (GARY FRIEDMAN / LAT)

Christmas Eve at the firehouse. Esposito and his son, Vincent, 3.  (GARY FRIEDMAN / LAT)

On Christmas Day, the helmet of Rescue 5 firefighter Allan Tarasiewcz is washed at the firehouse by Fire Capt. John Ferry. The helmet and a crowbar are the only Rescue 5 items ever recovered.  (GARY FRIEDMAN / LAT)

A memorial to John Bergin, one of 11 firefighters from the New York Fire Department’s Rescue Company 5 who died in the Sept. 11 attacks.  (GARY FRIEDMAN / LAT)

The Bergin family—from left, John Jr., Katie, Madeline and Shannon—at John Bergin’s grave site on Christmas Day. “We had a strong family life,” Madeline says. “He would never leave us, we always came first. I know how much he loved us.”  (GARY FRIEDMAN / LAT)

Spade in Los Angeles in December to pick up an award on behalf of the New York Fire Department. “When I was introduced, I said a prayer for the missing guys.” When the attack began, he and others were eating breakfast at the firehouse. The rescue truck was at a nearby hospital. Rather than wait for it, Spade left alone in a small equipment truck. The bigger truck picked up the others and went to the scene minutes later. Everyone aboard that truck died.  (GARY FRIEDMAN / LAT)

Spade being X-rayed. He later had reconstructive surgery for a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee and has been undergoing therapy to improve the movement of his right shoulder.  (GARY FRIEDMAN / LAT)

Capt. Ferry leads Rescue 5 at a St. Patrick’s Day parade in March. After nearly six years as head of Rescue 5, Ferry was reassigned about a year before the attacks. His replacement, Capt. Louis Modafferi, died Sept. 11. Ferry was sent back to the unit temporarily “to heal ... to help in any way I can.”  (GARY FRIEDMAN / LAT)

Spade speaks with members of the Pasadena Fire Department after being flown to California to ride in the Rose Parade.  (GARY FRIEDMAN / LAT)

Spade in Fargo, N.D., to serve as grand marshal of the July 4 parade. “Everything I do is in honor of the company. I’m proud to be part of Rescue 5, proud to be a member of FDNY, and proud to have survived and make it home to my family.”  (GARY FRIEDMAN / LAT)

Hope of finding others from the unit ends May 30, as the World Trade Center recovery site is closed. Gus Tripoli hugs Charlene Fiore, left, and Madeline Bergin, who lost their husbands, Mike and John. After the attacks, Tripoli helped search for 10 days. “We are family,” the Rescue 5 retiree says. “Family that never goes away.”  (GARY FRIEDMAN / LAT)