Ex-bravest dies of 9/11 related illness

The city lost another firefighter to a 9/11 illness, officials said Tuesday — the 199th member of the FDNY to die of a Ground Zero-related sickness.

Firefighter Kevin Nolan (inset), 58, was part of the rescue and recovery effort following the

Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, officials said.

Nolan, who joined the FDNY in 1989 and started his career at Engine 39 on the Upper East Side before moving to Engine Company 79 in the Bronx, his last assignment. He retired in March 2007.

“Our condolences go out to his family for the loss of this member,” said Gerard Fitzgerald, president of the Uniformed Firefighters Association. “He is another lost victim of 9/11 and he will be missed.”

Nolan is survived by three adult children and his wife. He lived in Rye, about 15 miles north of the city.

“Kevin is the 199th member of the FDNY to die of World Trade Center related illness,” said Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro. “So many years later, we continue to lose those who displayed such incredible bravery on that terrible day, and in the weeks that followed.”

Word of Nolan’s death spread as U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Tuesday blocked a bill to expand relief for ailing 9/11 responders and their families, saying it was too costly. In his remarks, Paul cited the nation’s “massive debt” and said any new spending should be offset by other cuts.

Senate Democrats slammed the move as “political game playing.”

Fitzgerald said the holdup in the passage of the bill was infuriating.

“We let their offices know that we have a wake on Friday and a funeral on Saturday. Others of our members are in hospice care, and still others in a terminal stage of cancer. We deal with this all the time.”