Mr. [John] Garcia survived two of the most dreadful fires any New York City firefighter has ever faced \u201d\u201d the attack on the World Trade Center in 2001, and the fire at the 41-story former Deutsche Bank building, which was damaged on 9\/11 and was being dismantled. Mr. Garcia was on a hose line alongside the two firefighters who died in the Deutsche Bank fire \u201d\u201d Firefighters Robert Beddia and Joseph Graffagnino \u201d\u201d and as a lieutenant and the officer on duty for Ladder 5, he was their immediate superior.<\/p>\n
In the months and years following the Deutsche Bank fire, Mr. Garcia struggled to cope with the deaths of the two men. He told friends that he felt responsible, and by the time he retired in July 2009, he was found to be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the toughest things is when an officer loses a firefighter who\u2019s under him,\u201d\u009d said Frank McCutchen, 53, a retired firefighter and friend of Mr. Garcia\u2019s who worked with him at Engine 24 and Ladder 5 in SoHo. \u201cThere\u2019s nothing worse on the job. It\u2019s like a parent losing a kid. You can\u2019t get in his head to say, \u201d\u02dcHey, it\u2019s not your fault.\u2019 \u201d\u009d<\/p>\n