City firefighters will gather Saturday in an upstate New York town to honor their fellow Bravest, Roy Chelsen, who, 10 years after he risked his life to save others after the first tower collapsed on Sept. 11, succumbed to cancer and became the first firefighter to die since the passage of the Zadroga Act.

Chelsen, 51, was affectionately known as “The Viking” because of his Scandinavian roots and, no doubt, his imposing figure. He received a World Trade Center disability pension and his cancer was linked to toxic fumes and dust from that day. He was unable to find a bone marrow transplant in time.

He is also the first firefighter to die since the Zadroga Act was passed.

On Sept. 11, fellow members of Engine Company 28 Ladder 11 remember Chelsen going into the North Tower after the South Tower had collapsed and dragging out several firefighters.

“This is probably a story most guys would've told time after time, after time, after time, and the truth is, it’s probably one of the least known stories about 9/11,” said Steve Cassidy, head of the Uniformed Firefighters Association.

“There were a lot heroic things done that day, many of them have been documented, many of them have been spoken about time and again. He never spoke about it, he just thought he was doing his job … he was an unbelievably quiet leader,” Cassidy said.  

Chelsen worked at Engine Company 28 Ladder 11 for 21 years before he retired in 2006. Today, inside the firehouse, above the chalkboard listing which firefighters are out on call, is the chalkboard used on Sept. 11. Chelsen’s and the names of 12 other firefighters sent out that day are preserved behind glass. The company also has his helmet and several photos of a smiling Chelsen with a handlebar mustache as well.

Fellow firefighter Stephen Mattera, 45, remembers Chelsen’s modesty and love of motorcycling. “Roy was probably the strongest guy I've ever met, and I've never seen him lift a weight in his life,” Mattera said.

Even during his cancer treatment, Chelsen still mounted his Harley Davidson and rode to Florida with his friends.

Fellow firefighters said Chelsen’s decisiveness is something to be admired and made rookies say things like, “I wish I had that in me where I could make that decision for five other guys,” Mattera said of Chelsen's work on 9/11. “If you wanted to know what a fireman was, you looked at Roy, and that's it, he showed you.”

Although Chelsen didn’t receive the bone marrow transplant he needed, Cassidy said the drive brought out so many firefighters who registered that others received a transplant and lived as a result.

9/11 Memorial at Engine Company 28 Ladder 11. (Photo by Stephen Nessen)