Hero’s tribute

Bravest mourn rescuer felled by 9/11 ills

NATTILY DRESSED in their blue uniforms and offering a crisp salute, scores of city firefighters on Tuesday bid a final farewell to Thomas Phelan, an unsung hero of 9/11 who helped evacuate hundreds of people from lower Manhattan before joining the FDNY.

Hundreds were on hand as Phelan’s casket was carried out of St. Michael’s Church on 42nd St. in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, and put on the back of a firetruck for its final trip to Green-Wood Cemetery.

Phelan, 45, died Friday of cancer, officials said. His illness was believed to be related to his exposure of toxic fumes at Ground Zero.

Although Phelan wasn’t a firefighter when terrorists flew planes into the World Trade Center, he was a pilot for Statue of Liberty Cruises and quickly turned his cruise ship into a rescue vessel and ferried hundreds of people out of lower Manhattan.

“He brought supplies, rescue workers & was a huge part of the operation,” according to the NYC Fire Wire Facebook page.

Phelan went on to join the FDNY in May 2003. He was still an active firefighter when he died.

Funeral services for Phelan happened as firefighters raised black mourning bunting at the Bureau of Fire Investigation’s Citywide South headquarters in Brooklyn and at Engine 249 and Ladder 113 to honor Fire Marshal Christopher (Tripp) Zanetis and Lt. Christopher Raguso, both Air National Guard members who died in a helicopter crash in Iraq last week.

Firefighters and children Monday in Brooklyn, salute coffin of Thomas Phelan, who joined FDNY in 2003 but was “huge part” of 9/11 rescue, Bravest said.