YORKVILLE 9
Home / The Nine / Dennis P. McHugh
Firefighter · Ladder Company 13

Dennis P.
McHugh

Age 34 · 3 years of FDNY service

A father of three, marathon runner, Gaelic football player and former finance professional who found his calling in the FDNY.

Ladder Company 13Engine 22 · Ladder 13 · Battalion 10159 East 85th Street

Energy in everything

Dennis McHugh had built a career in finance before becoming a New York City firefighter, but the fire service became the profession for which he is remembered.

He was a runner who completed the New York City Marathon and an athlete who played Gaelic football.

At home, that same energy showed itself in family projects and work around the family’s summer house. Friends remembered a man who always seemed to be doing something useful.

He and his wife Una were raising three children: Chloe and twins Sophie and Joseph.

Ladder 13

Dennis was a three-year veteran of the FDNY and served with Ladder Company 13. His brother Tom also served the department as a fire marshal.

On September 11, Dennis responded with Ladder 13’s six-member crew to the North Tower.

The response

Ladder 13 was ordered toward the 44th floor for search and evacuation and reached approximately the 24th floor before the South Tower collapsed.

The crew then descended through Stairway B while continuing to search. Dennis McHugh did not return from the North Tower.

Follow the North Tower timeline

A library bearing his name

The Dennis P. McHugh Foundation made a major contribution toward a new public library in Piermont, New York.

The Dennis P. McHugh Piermont Public Library opened in 2007 and carries his name—a living civic institution centered on learning, community and future generations.

Annual races and family events have also carried his memory forward.

Historical record

Sources for this memorial

Personal photographs and additional family recollections can be added as family materials and permissions are received.

National Fallen Firefighters Foundation

Dennis P. McHugh — Roll of Honor biography.

FDNY company operations record

Ladder 13 response and North Tower assignment.

Dennis P. McHugh Piermont Public Library

History of the library and its naming in Dennis’s honor.

View full source recordReturn to the Yorkville 9
Firefighter Dennis P. McHugh

Forever part of Ladder 13.
Forever part of the Yorkville 9.

September 11, 2001 — September 11, 2026