For FDNY's Engine 226 in Brooklyn, 9/11 created great pain, but also a loving extended family

During the 9/11 remembrance ceremony in Lower Manhattan, you'll see the number 343 on hats and T-shirts, jewelry, and even tattoos.

That's how many members of the FDNY were killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

At Engine 226 in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, the legacy of lost comrades is preserved and passed on.

Engine 226 lost beloved colleagues on 9/11

The facade of the firehouse on State Street has barely changed since 1889, but inside there are additions never contemplated by the architect - like the handwritten roll call of the 343 names, and the display case honoring those particularly dear to this firehouse.

It's a memorial built on pride and pain.

"It will always be painful. It will be painful thinking about the loss, but there is a tremendous amount of pride in making sure we honor them, and we do the right thing by their families," retired FDNY Capt. Pete Culkin said.

Culkin spent much of his career at Engine 226, fighting fires and fanning the flame of remembrance for colleagues like Brian McAleese, Stan Smagala, David DeRubbio, and Bob Wallace, who became like family.

Culkin said he saved the 2001 response ticket dispatching the engine company to the World Trade Center site on that Tuesday, 25 years ago.

"The second tower was hit when they were en route, but nobody asked to get off that rig," Culkin said, adding when asked if there was fear or uncertainty, "Sure, I'm sure, but they were committed to doing their job as professional firefighters, and that's where they went."

And that's where they died, when the south tower collapsed at 9:59 a.m.

Culkin said it was very difficult to have his friends ripped out of his life so abruptly.

"I mean, it was a massive, massive hole in this firehouse, and they were all great guys. They all had families. They all had children," Culkin said. "Stan Smagala, he knew his wife was pregnant, but he never saw his baby."

Extended family takes on new meaning at Engine 226

As Culkin and his colleagues worked at the site destroyed in the terror, they resolved to help 9/11 families rebuild.

"Pete Culkin and the members of his house have their tickets to heaven," said Dominick DeRubbio, who lost his uncle on 9/11 but gained an extended family at Engine 226.

For years since, they've all been showing up with a quiet, constant love.

"The family that you may not have known that you had," Dominick DeRuccio said. "We're here to take care of you now, and that got me through some rough times and got the family through some tough times."

And like family legends handed down through the generations, every firefighter who joins Engine 226 learns about the bravery of Brian, Stan, Dave, and Bob.

"To show the respect and keep the memory alive and how important it is, especially now when we have members who might not have been alive during 9/11, that they know the boots they have to fill and the ground they stand on," firefighter Mark Bolevice said.

"We're still here, we still remember them, we honor them, and we're trying to do the best we can for their families," Culkin added.