Honoring Heroes Block Party

Kelly Mosca and Pat Nally

Philadelphia firefighter Pat Nally and his fiancee Kelly Mosca sat on folding chairs in a small, unobtrusive corner of a big tent, just outside of Maggie’s Waterfront Cafe. They were just two out of close to 2,000 happy guests who shelled out 25 bucks a pop to gain entry to last week’s “Honoring Heroes Block Party” at Maggie’s, in the city’s Holmesburg neighborhood.

They could easily have blended into the background. Not much chance of that, though. Nally, who was badly injured in the April 9 Kensington warehouse fire that took the lives of comrades Lt. Robert Neary and firefighter Daniel Sweeney, was the center of attention for much of the afternoon. Friends, probably including a lot he didn’t know he had, stopped by in an unending stream  to shake his hand, wish him well, and thank him for his service.

Nally, still wearing a cast on his injured leg and getting around on crutches, looked a bit dazed by all of the attention, which, he conceded, was “very overwhelming.” Half of the day’s proceeds went to offset some of the financial challenges that have come Nally’s way since the fire and subsequent building collapse, and he was very thankful for that. But he was quick to divert attention away from himself. “It’s a tremendous outpouring of support,” he said. “Sweeney and Neary … they deserve it.”

Nally acknowledged his rehabilitation was going very well. “Physically, everything is on the up and up. I still have three to six months of recovery,” he said. “It’ll be two to three months before I can put weight on my foot.” Emotionally, though, things might take a little more time, as Nally continues to cope with memories of that fateful moment on April 9, when a wall came tumbling down and changed his whole life. “I think about about it everyday.”

Still, Nally had little doubt what he wanted to do as soon as his body and mind had healed: return to the Philadelphia Fire Department. “If it’s up to me, I’ll be back,” he said. “A hundred per cent, for sure. I can’t wait to get back.”

We have photos from our afternoon at Maggies. The slide show is up top. To see the photos with captions, click here.

In times of need, firefighters rally around their brothers and sisters. “It seems like Hollywood in a way, but if you talk to firefighters, there’s really a unique bond between all of us,” says Anthony Dello Russo, a seven-year Philadelphia firefighter stationed at Ladder 16 in Kensington.

This Saturday, that camaraderie will be on full display as the city’s firefighters, together with their colleagues in blue, gather at Maggie’s Waterfront Cafe on North Delaware Avenue in the Northeast for the “Honoring Heroes Block Party.” Among the beneficiaries will be Ladder 16’s Patrick Nally, 25, who was injured in the five-alarm April 9 Kensington warehouse fire that claimed the lives of Lt. Robert Neary, 60, and firefighter Daniel Sweeney, 25, both of Ladder 10. All three firefighters will be honored. The event also benefits the Philadelphia Living Flame Memorial at Franklin Square, a monument erected in 1976, now undergoing redesign and rededication.

Dello Russo, who’s helping organize the early-summer event, was among those who responded to the blaze, on a night when he should have been off duty. “I was working for someone that night,” he recalls. “It had a profound impact on me.”

Of course, Dello Russo knows Nally well. And like the other firefighters at Ladder 16, Dello Russo knows Nally could use a little help. Nally suffered disabling injuries to his back and pelvis when the roof of an adjoining fire-damaged furniture store roof collapsed on him, Neary, Sweeney, and firefighter Francis Chaney.

“He’s only receiving 80 percent of his pay,” says Dello Russo says of Nally. “While he’s out, he doesn’t accrue any sick time or vacation time. He’s getting married in four weeks. The wedding is going to go on as planned, but they had to cancel their honeymoon. Pat owns a house right around the corner from me, so obviously he still has to pay his bills. There’s been a bit of a financial crunch.”

Since the fire, Dello Russo says, Nally is starting to get around better, but “there’s a limit to how far he can travel and how long he can stay up.” Fortunately, the young firefighter won’t have far to go to attend his own benefit. “Pat is staying with his parents, who live 50 yards from Maggie’s,” says Dello Russo. “He’s the guest of honor, and we want him to attend. That was paramount.”

Tickets for the benefit are on sale for $25 apiece, which covers the cost of admission, beer and food.There’s music, too, of course, including performances by the cover band Saturn, an excellent band comprised mostly of Philadelphia police officers, called District Blue, and the great Irish band Jamison.

Maggie’s is an indoor-outdoor venue, but the party is likely to spill over, so the 9200 and 9300 blocks of North Delaware Avenue will be blocked off for the day. There’s Fairmount Park land across the street as well.

An event of this size has the potential to disrupt local life, so organizers took it up with the Holmesburg Civic Association. They were fully supportive, Dello Russo says. “We were very appreciative of that.”

Several weeks have gone by since the blaze, and firefighters have mourned their loss during that time. The block party, Dello Russo says, has the potential to bring them together, along with members of the community at large.

“One of the big things we discussed and were emphatic about, is that it (the block party) is supposed to foster community,” sayd Dello Russo. “I know it’s primarily to help Pat out financially, but speaking for myself, it’s cathartic in a way, for civilians and uniform alike. It’s cool to come out and hang out with us. It’s cool when people appreciate what you do.”

Maggie’s is at 9242 North Delaware Avenue. You can pick up tickets at any one of four places:

• Maggies
• Philadelphia Fire Fighters & Paramedics Union Local 22, 5th and Willow Street
• Engine 7, Ladder 10, Kensington and Castor Avenues
• Ladder 16, Belgrade and Huntington Streets

Tickets also will be available at the door on the day of the event. The party goes on from 2 to 6 p.m.

• Visit the website.