William M. Feehan

In 2015 the FDNY acquired a fireboat named after Feehan. The vessel is a fast response fireboat, capable of pumping 8,000 gallons per minute, with a top speed of 40 knots (74 km/h). It is 66 feet (20 m) long and was made by using scrap metal from the Twin Towers.

On September 11, 2001, during September 11 attacks, Feehan was at a forward command post during the collapse of the North Tower of the World Trade Center, and was killed in that event. He was 71. Tom Junod, writing in Esquire magazine, wrote that surviving first responders remember Feehan admonishing a bystander who was recording individuals jumping from the building's windows, asking them "Don't you have any human decency?"

Feehan held every rank within the fire department, starting with Probationary Firefighter upon his appointment on October 10, 1959, and was the first firefighter to do so. He was promoted to Lieutenant in 1964 and eventually to Chief of Department in 1991. In 1992, he was appointed Deputy Fire Commissioner. Upon the resignation of Fire Commissioner Carlos M. Rivera, he briefly served as Acting Fire Commissioner through the end of Mayor David N. Dinkins administration from August 31, 1993 until December 31, 1993.

Feehan graduated from Saint John's University in 1952. He served in the United States Army in Korea during the Korean War, during which he was decorated with the Combat Infantry Badge, Korean Service Medal, UN Service Medal and National Defense Service Medal.

William Michael Feehan (September 29, 1929 – September 11, 2001) was a member of the Fire Department of New York who died during the collapse of the World Trade Center during the September 11 attacks. He was the second-highest official in the department.

William Feehan was born September 29, 1929 in Long Island City, Queens, and grew up in Jackson Heights.