Dennis Smith is a leader in New York City and national charitable organizations. He was also the founding chairman of the New York City Fire Museum on Spring Street. For eight years after 9/11, Smith served as a trustee of the New York Police & Fire Widows' and Children's Benefit Fund, a charity that benefits the families of firefighters and police officers killed in the line of duty.

John Sudnik is a firefighter with the FDNY, who was promoted to acting Chief of Department.

Buscemi was a New York City firefighter from 1980 to 1984, with Engine Company No. 55, in the Little Italy section of New York. The day after the 9/11 attacks in New York, he returned to his old firehouse to volunteer; he worked twelve-hour shifts for a week, and dug through rubble looking for missing firefighters.