PHOTO: St. James Firefighter Remembers a Mentor, a Friend

Being part of a fire department  means you are part of a brotherhood, a family you go to battle with in dire circumstances.

On 9/11, St. James firefighter Lou DeStefano said he lost one of his brothers, Capt. Doug Oelschlager. 

“Doug was the best friend you would ever want … just a regular guy, he would do anything for you,” DeStefano said.

DeStefano recalled confusion on Sept. 11 where Oelschlager was at Ground Zero going from one truck to another, but never signed in to the ladder company, leaving people wondering if he was OK after the towers fell.

“He had signed out of Ladder 6 but never signed into 15 … they still had hope because there was no official record at that point that he was actually on 15,” DeStefano explained. “They figured maybe he’s walking around or maybe he’s on a different truck until they were able to establish from radio transmissions that he was actually with them in the south tower.”

When talking about Oelschlager, DeStefano repeatedly said that even though he was older, Oelschlager was his teacher.

“When you came into the firehouse and you’re gearing up and Doug started running into the firehouse, or if you came in here and he was here already, you knew everything was going to be OK,” he said.