Thomas A.
Casoria

Age 29 · 3 years of FDNY service

A firefighter who had wanted the job for years, an athlete, a brother, a son, and a man one month away from his wedding.

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

A life moving forward

Thomas Casoria grew up in Whitestone, Queens, and built much of his early life around sports, family and the goal of becoming a New York City firefighter.

At Holy Cross High School in Flushing, he played second base, captained the baseball team and was recognized as an all-city football player. After joining the FDNY, he continued playing second base on the department softball team.

His brother Carlo also became an FDNY firefighter. The brothers went through the Fire Academy in the same class—a detail that captures how closely family and the fire service were woven together in Tommy’s life.

By September 2001, his career had finally taken hold after years of waiting for his chance to join the department. His personal life was moving forward too. He was engaged and preparing to be married on October 13, 2001.

Engine 22

Thomas had been with the FDNY for approximately three years and was assigned to Engine Company 22 at the East 85th Street firehouse.

On September 11 he responded with Engine 22 to the World Trade Center and entered the North Tower.

The response

Engine 22’s surviving operations account places members of the company assisting civilians during the evacuation through Stairway C.

A contemporary family account preserved in the New York Times’ Portraits of Grief reported that Thomas was last heard on the radio saying he and other firefighters were helping a person with a disability down from the fifth floor, and later reporting that a firefighter was down.

Thomas Casoria did not make it out before the North Tower collapsed.

Follow the North Tower timeline

A name carried through Whitestone

In 2008, New York City enacted the co-naming of 22nd Avenue between 149th and 150th Streets in Queens as Firefighter Thomas A. Casoria Way.

His name has also remained connected to Holy Cross High School, FDNY athletics and memorial efforts created by family and friends.

Thomas was 29. He was a firefighter, athlete, brother and son with a wedding date already on the calendar.

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

Thomas A. Casoria — Roll of Honor biography.

Portraits of Grief / Legacy

Whitestone, Holy Cross athletics, family recollections and final radio account.

New York City Local Law 64 of 2008

Firefighter Thomas A. Casoria Way, Queens.

View full source record Return to the Yorkville 9

Firefighter Thomas A. Casoria

Forever part of Engine 22.
Forever part of the Yorkville 9.

September 11, 2001 — September 11, 2026