Apr 21, 2022
Deputy Chief Jay Jonas, NYFD
Jay Jonas has been a long-time resident of Goshen. He married Judy Cassel in 1983. They have three adult children and one grandchild.
Jay has volunteered in Goshen as a Little League coach, a Goshen Youth Football coach, and as a member of the Minisink Hook & Ladder Co. No. 1 of the Goshen Fire Department.
Jay was hired by the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) in 1979. During his career, he has worked in the South Bronx, Harlem, the Lower East Side, Chinatown, Greenwich Village, Little Italy, and SOHO. He is currently the Division Commander of the 7th Division in the Bronx.
He has written the FDNY procedures for rescuing trapped firefighters. He has also written numerous articles in WNYF Magazine. He has authored over 70 issues of his "Division 7 Training and Safety Newsletters" which highlight historical and/or significant fires and lessons learned from them.
On September 11, 2001, Jay was the Captain of Ladder Co. 6. They were one of the first arriving units to the World Trade Center. They operated in the North Tower, and were in the middle of rescuing a woman when the North Tower collapsed with Ladder Co. 6 still inside. They were trapped for hours in the rubble. But, miraculously, the members of Ladder Co. 6 and the woman they were rescuing all survived. They have been the subject of numerous documentaries about 9/11.
When Jay retires later this year, his career will be almost 43 years in duration.