New York firefighter hangs up helmet after 35 years of service

NEW YORK - Al Benjamin is one of New York's most senior firefighters according to WNBC-TV's Marc Santia. After 35 years of service, Benjamin is finally hanging up his helmet...

NEW YORK – Al Benjamin is one of New York’s most senior firefighters according to WNBC-TV’s Marc Santia. After 35 years of service, Benjamin is finally hanging up his helmet.

“That’s why these guys are so great…I call them ‘thinkers’,” Benjamin says of his fellow New York firefighters.

Benjamin spends much of the interview praising the contributions of others rather than focusing on his own accomplishments, which include service during September 11. His colleagues describe him as a ‘gentleman’ and a steady voice in the midst of trying times.

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Just as Benjamin was beginning to open up his first day as a firefirgther in New York, a siren went off at the firehouse signaling there had been a car accident in Brooklyn.

Benjamin cut his interview with WNBC short and was on the move.

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