Thursday, October 1, 2026
For Steve Grogan, the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, began beneath clear blue skies at Lido Golf Club, where he and fellow Lynbrook firefighters could see the Manhattan skyline roughly 20 miles away.
Twenty-five years later, Grogan, a 58-year member of the Lynbrook Fire Department, is still answering calls — even as health problems stemming from the week he spent at Ground Zero have changed how he can serve.
Grogan, who was also a federal agent at the time, had taken the day off and was golfing with members of the department’s Tally-Ho Engine Company when the first plane struck the World Trade Center.
“We saw the smoke and thought it was nothing more than a fire,” Grogan recalled.
Then they watched the second plane hit.
“We saw the second plane and the ball of flame that came off the other building,” he said. “Everyone realized this is not just a fire.”
While Lynbrook firefighters responded to the city, Grogan remained on call for instructions from his federal office. The next morning, he reported to Ground Zero, where he spent a week assisting in the rescue operation and gathering evidence.
“Our job was to find wallets or evidence and luggage from the planes and parts of the plane,” Grogan said.
He searched the wreckage for identification, personal belongings and aircraft debris, photographing evidence before turning it over to FBI or NYPD evidence teams. He also helped recover victims’ remains, at times climbing into holes at the site to bring them out.
The conditions left a lasting mark.
“There was nothing to wear on your face when you got there,” Grogan said. “You stepped into smoke. It was gray and dusty wherever you stepped.”
He began experiencing what became known among responders as the “World Trade Center cough.”
“I still have it,” he said. Grogan is now treated through the World Trade Center Health Program for respiratory problems. His lung function eventually prevented him from passing the breathing test required to wear a self-contained breathing apparatus, meaning he can no longer enter burning buildings.
But he has not stopped responding.
Grogan remains an active exterior firefighter, pulling hoses, helping ladder buildings and assisting wherever he can at emergency scenes.
“I’m still at the scene doing what needs to be done on the outside,” he said.
After his week at Ground Zero, Grogan joined the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force at John F. Kennedy International Airport, where he spent the next several months checking people traveling into and out of the airport.
Despite everything he experienced, Grogan said Sept. 11 never changed his commitment to serving Lynbrook. That commitment began when he was a teenager, inspired by a neighbor who would rush out the door whenever the village fire horns sounded.
“I’ve had the interest since being a teenager to be a fireman,” Grogan said. “It didn’t change what I wanted to do for the Village of Lynbrook as a fireman.”
Grogan has also worked to pass that commitment to younger generations. In 1979, he helped establish Lynbrook’s Junior Fire Department, introducing young people ages 12 to 17 to firefighting and preparing those interested to eventually join the department.
“We all knew kids wanted to be firemen, so why not introduce them to it, get them involved and teach them?” he said.
Now, 58 years after joining the department at 19, Grogan continues answering the same fire calls — even if his role at the scene has changed.
“I still do my job,” he said.
To read more from the Herald's Remembering 9/11, 25th anniversary special section, click here.
