In 1975, 699 New York City Firefighters and thousands of telephone employees risked their lives by exposing themselves to the airborne toxins created by the NY Telephone Fire.
Many of the firefighters who extinguished the flames, which burned over two days, were marked by the FDNY with the “red star of death” on their medical and H.R. file.
It meant a higher likelihood of health problems due to the millions of pounds of toxic PCBs inhaled at the inferno at the Second Avenue Switching Station.
Many of the Telephone workers, who were present for the months-long restoration, similarly found themselves getting sick of the same diseases afflicting the firefighters. Sadly, little was ever said or reported about the occupational health and safety condition for the workforce.”
Recently, Verizon with the New York Fire Bell Club erected a plaque on the switching station building where the fire occurred, to honor all workers. That building at 204 Second Avenue, between 12th and 13th Streets in Manhattan’s East Village neighborhood, remains an operating Verizon facility.