Arty Riccio was working at a Brooklyn firehouse on the morning of September 11, 2001, when the call came in that would define the next quarter-century of his life. The retired FDNY lieutenant, who now splits his time at a home on Singer Island, was among the first group of firefighters who rushed toward the World Trade Center that day. Twenty-five years later, he is preparing for chemotherapy after being diagnosed with a 9/11-related cancer.
Riccio recalled the morning as calm and beautiful before everything changed, according to WPEC. He and fellow firefighters traveled into Manhattan and entered the North Tower, helping civilians evacuate as chaos closed in around them. Riccio told the station that when he got right by the Trade Center, the second plane hit over their heads.
During the response, Riccio carried a woman down 18 flights of stairs to safety. He survived the South Tower collapse and was left covered in debris, later calling his wife, Margaret, to let her know he was alive. Riccio, who served 33 years with the FDNY, said the South Tower was already collapsing as he and other responders scrambled to get clear.
A Diagnosis Two Decades in the Making
Riccio was diagnosed with a 9/11-related cancer in October 2025, per the same WPEC report. He has since undergone surgeries over the past year and plans to begin chemotherapy in the coming weeks. Riccio was cleared to spend a few weeks at his home on Singer Island before returning to New York for treatment. Doctors have documented that, over the 25 years since the attacks, he lost 22% of his lung capacity and found both glass in his left lung and cement dust in his right — physical remnants of the hours he spent in the toxic cloud at Ground Zero.
Those injuries track with medical patterns identified across the FDNY's Ground Zero responders more broadly. Firefighters exposed to the site lost an average of 372 milliliters of lung capacity in the six to twelve months following the attacks, compared with an expected age-related decline of just 30 milliliters a year, according to the International Association of Fire Fighters. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report cited by The Never Forget Project found that dust from the collapse contained more than 2,500 distinct contaminants, including pulverized glass, asbestos, lead, mercury, and silica. The site involved 24,000 gallons of jet fuel, and fires continued during rescue and recovery in Lower Manhattan.
A Toll That Now Exceeds the Attacks Themselves
The FDNY lost 343 members on September 11, 2001. But more than 600 FDNY members have since died from World Trade Center-related illnesses, a toll that now surpasses the losses of that morning, according to the International Fire & Safety Journal. On September 2, the FDNY formally added 36 more names to its World Trade Center Memorial Wall at department headquarters in Brooklyn, an annual update honoring those members, as reported by Staten Island firefighter's death days after honoring fallen brothers.
A newly released FDNY World Trade Center 25-Year Health Impact Report found that more than 10,000 FDNY members are certified with at least one 9/11-related physical health condition, drawing on 25 years of medical monitoring by the department’s World Trade Center Health Program. Nationwide, the federal World Trade Center Health Program has grown to more than 145,000 enrolled members, with certified cancer cases exceeding 57,000 after roughly tripling in five years, per Northwell Health. The health data include both respiratory conditions and cancers among responders.
Early Detection Credited for Survival Odds
There is measurable reason for hope in Riccio's fight. An FDNY health study found that 86% of World Trade Center Health Program members diagnosed with cancer survived at least five years post-diagnosis, compared with 63% among New York state residents of similar demographics — a gap medical officials attribute to routine, no-cost screening that catches malignancies earlier. Federal support for that screening was also secured this year: in February, Congress passed the 9/11 Responder and Survivor Health Funding Correction Act to fix a funding formula shortfall and stabilize long-term financing for the health program, a step Hoodline covered in its report on how 9/11 heroes finally get health care for life.
Compensation has kept pace with the growing number of claims. The September 11th Victim Compensation Fund distributed nearly $1.84 billion to about 9,800 claimants in 2025 alone, pushing total historical payouts past $16.8 billion across more than 71,000 approved claims, according to a report cited by Hoodline's earlier coverage of a 9/11 fuel tanker driver's own cancer battle. New claims continue arriving at a rate of roughly 900 per month, even as the program has been permanently reauthorized through 2090.
Staying Active Through Treatment
Riccio's doctor has cleared him to spend a few weeks at his Singer Island home even as he begins treatment, and he exercises daily and rides his bike to stay strong through the process. He plans to return to South Florida after beating cancer, and he intends to attend 9/11 memorial events in New York in the meantime. Riccio said he is dedicated to keeping the memory of fallen firefighters alive and wants younger firefighters to understand the importance of carrying on the message: never forget.
Riccio's story arrives alongside similar accounts surfacing as the 25th anniversary approaches, including NYPD Transit Chief Joseph Gulotta's disclosure of his own 9/11-related cancer diagnosis and the death of retired FDNY firefighter Thomas del Pino from Ground Zero-related cancer, reported in Hoodline's account of a Staten Island firefighter's cancer death. The accounts underscore the continuing toll on this generation of responders even 25 years on.
