Age 44 · FDNY firefighter
A husband and father whose record of courage did not begin on September 11.
Thomas Sabella was the husband of Diana and father of Nicole and James.
He enjoyed golf, skiing and snowboarding. He grew tomatoes and cucumbers, made red wine to share with others and had the practical ability to build things simply by studying how they looked.
He valued the friendships formed in the fire service and the life he had built around family.
In 1998, Thomas ran up six flights of a burning Upper East Side tenement and rescued a man in danger at a fifth-floor window.
Contemporary and NFFF memorial accounts record that New York City later honored him for that rescue. The exact medal title remains in our verification ledger pending confirmation from the original FDNY Medal Day record.
By September 2001, Thomas was serving with Ladder Company 13.
On September 11, he entered the North Tower with Ladder 13 and climbed toward the company’s search-and-evacuation assignment.
After the South Tower collapsed, Ladder 13 began evacuating downward through Stairway B while continuing to search.
Thomas Sabella did not return home.
Thomas’s September 11 story belongs in the context of the life that came before it. Three years earlier, when someone was trapped in a burning building, he had already chosen to go toward the danger.
On September 11, he did it again.
Personal photographs and additional family recollections can be added as family materials and permissions are received.
Thomas E. Sabella — Roll of Honor biography.
1998 Upper East Side rescue and subsequent city recognition.
Ladder 13 North Tower assignment and evacuation account.
September 11, 2001 — September 11, 2026