Remembering Lt. Joseph P. "Joey D" DiBernardo, Jr. Retired FDNY Bronx Dispatcher 356, Ladder Co. 56, Squad 61, & Res3cue

This is TheBravest.com's Memorial Page for retired FDNY Lt. Joseph P.DiBernardo, Jr. "Joey D" Joey was a dispatcher for many years, starting out of the Bronx Communications Center as #356 until accepted to the academy in 1995, following in his father's footsteps (Joe, Sr. is a retired Division 6 Chief and Bronx Borough Commander). Joey was assigned to Ladder 56, then Squad 61, and finally Rescue 3 "Big Blue" after excelling and proving his dedication to the job, his fellow brothers, and the people he saved. Joey was widely known as one of four survivors of the "Black Sunday" fires on January 23, 2005, where two other Firefighters were killed in the Line of Duty in the Bronx ----and another Firefighter died in Brooklyn, later that same morning.   Lt. DiBernardo , 40, was one of 6 Firefighters forced to jump from the top floor of the burning building on East 178th Street in the Bronx during a winter blizzard in January 2005. Illegal partitions installed in some of the apartments blocked access to the fire escapes, and the firefighters were overwhelmed by what the Lieutenant called a "freight train of fire."   With no way out but the windows, they jumped from the 4th floor onto concrete sidewalks in a back alley. Two of the firefighters, Lt Curtis Meyran and John Bellew, were killed. The 4 survivors--DiBernardo, Jeffery Cool, Eugene Stolowski, and Brendan Cawley--suffered horrific injuries and required many months of intensive rehabilitation.   Lt. DiBernardo smashed both feet in the jump and suffered internal injuries. He was in a coma for more than two weeks at New York-Presbyterian Hospital after the incident, receiving the "last rites" two times, before leaving for rehab in the spring of 2005.   Lt DiBernardo--the son of retired, FDNY Deputy Chief, Joseph DiBernardo, Sr--was walking tall during his promotion to Lieutenant in 2005--and later danced at his sister's wedding.   His injuries required him to retire on a medical disability from the FDNY--and DiBernardo struggled with alot in the years after he left the FDNY. But he remained active, recognized as an international expert in Technical Rescue operations, lecturing across the country and overseas. He adopted a dog that he named "Rescue"--after his beloved FDNY Rescue Co. 3 in the Bronx.   His Brother Firefighter from Rescue 3, Jeff Cool, posted a tribute on his FB page yesterday, thanking Joey for saving his life on "Black Sunday".   Joey once recalled that he wanted Cool, a father of two sons, to escape first--because he had children. DiBernardo remembered, "Fire was blowing out around Jeff like a jet engine." So Joey held Cool's personal safety rope from a 4th floor window ledge, and Cool made it down a few feet, before the rope gave way. DiBernardo later tried to use the rope to rappel from a window guard, but the rope--once again--gave way.   The managing agent of the Bronx building was convicted of criminally negligent homicide after a dramatic trial, but a judge later overturned the verdict.   FDNY Lt. Joseph DiBernardo leaves behind his parents, Joseph, Sr. and Barbara, along with his sister, Carolyn, her husband, and baby daughter. Joey was also a member and former Captain of Hook & Ladder Company No. 1, Rescue 6, of the Setauket Fire Department.