Recent Blog Posts

  Mike Barasch, managing partner of the firefighter law firm Barasch & McGarry, applauded the NYS Senate for passing a volunteer firefighter presumptive cancer coverage bill. He urged legislators in the NYS Assembly to do the same. “Volunteer firefighters are exposed to the same toxins as professional firefighters. Not surprisingly, they are diagnosed with the […]

The FDNY is mourning the loss of Battalion Chief Michael Fahy, a 17-year veteran and father of three, killed when an explosion at a Bronx house rained debris down upon him. According to metro.us, “Fahy is the FDNY’s highest ranking member to die in the line of duty since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and […]

In September, The Chief reported that Steve Cassidy, the long-time head of the Uniformed Firefighters Association, was stepping down to take a newly created position as executive director of the Fire Pension Fund. James Slevin, the UFA’s vice president for the past 14 years, will serve the remainder of Cassidy’s term, which runs to April 30, […]

For the FDNY, the ability to process information can be the difference between life and death. However, urban firefighting is inherently chaotic, and what firefighters need to know – floorplans, exit routes, materials on site, and the positions of building occupants – is often hidden from view. That’s why harnessing technology to serve at the […]

On June 30, the New York Daily News reported that the FDNY High School for Fire and Life Safety in Brooklyn has been renamed to honor Captain Vernon A. Richard, who perished in the collapse of the South Tower of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. About 100 people, including some 50 FDNY […]

From June 20 to 23, Marines, sailors and FDNY firefighters trained side by side and shared search and rescue tactics in four days of training exercises at the FDNY Fire Academy on Randall’s Island, culminating in a simulation drill at Grand Central Station. The joint venture allowed the men and women of the nation’s largest […]

Mike Barash, managing attorney of the law firm  Barash and McGarry, commented that “this bill is a no-brainer”.  He continued “if a volunteer firefighter is fighting the same fire as a professional firefighter –  which happens many times in small towns– and they are both hurt, it would be unconscionable to treat one different than the […]

Attorney Mike Barasch, whose NYC law firm Barasch & McGarry represents more 9/11 victims than any other firm in the country, commented on the IAFF report that warns of the growing number of PTSD and Cancer diagnoses among firefighters and EMT’s. “The IAFF study shines a light on health problems that we have long suspected. […]

Michael Barasch, managing partner of the NYC law firm Barasch & McGarry, applauded NY Senator Chuck Schumer’s call for a special registry to track cancers among firefighters. “This is long over due”, said Barasch,  whose firm represents thousands of cancer victims who were exposed to the toxic dust at the World Trade Center. “Thanks to […]

In a cool demonstration of grace surrounded by fire, Christopher Reilly, a 13-year veteran of FDNY, defied flames climbing the wall of a burning Bronx apartment to find and rescue its trapped occupant, an elderly paraplegic whose two legs had been partially amputated. The man was taken to Jacobi Medical Center where he was reported […]