The bright red door of his office in the firehouse on Roosevelt Island is clamped shut.

A note tacked on the door reads Keep Office Locked.

The firehouse is not closed.  It is abuzz with activity.  Rosters of assignments are being drawn up.  Firemen are testing equipment.  Special equipment is being brought in and sent to Lower Manhattan as requests are made.

Chief Raymond M. Downey's name is posted on the red door.  Another place his name appears prominently is on the heroes listed on the front page of The New York Post on September 17, the list of New York Fire Department personnel confirmed dead while on duty at the World Trade Center six days before.  "He is just missing," said Fireman Jim Trainor, who has worked with Downey more than eleven years.  "He is a tough cookie.  When we find him, he will ask 'What took you so long?'"

Officially, he is still being counted in the list of those missing from the Special Operations Unit.  "We have one body, four are confirmed dead and the rest are just missing," said Jack Spillane, the Battalion Chief on the Island.

"His reputation is accurate as being the nation's foremost expert on rescue operations," said Spillane, speaking of Downey, who has served as a task-force leader for FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and helped supervise the rescue operations in Oklahoma City after the bombing there.  "He has experience in operating in natural disasters and has written several books and articles on the subject.  It's information which the Fire Department uses all the time."

"He is the guy who knows best," said Fireman Ray Phillips, who has worked with Downey for over 20 years.  "His number-one thing was terrorism.  He knew best.  Unfortunately, he was one of the first to be trapped in there.  On a personal note, underneath the tough Marine, he is an easygoing guy.  Very disciplined.  He is the guy you most want to be like."

When Downey took charge of the firehouse on Roosevelt Island, he probably did not know that this could be his last assignment.  "I've been here five years and I think this is a special and unique place to be," he told The WIRE in an interview last summer.  "On days when there isn't too much action, I think this is a really nice place."

Last Tuesday, however, there was more action than anyone could have foreseen or wanted.  Downey's unit was among the first to be called in when the World Trade Center Towers were attacked.  Along with nine of his colleagues, he did not return.

Way back in 1963, when Chief Downey graduated from Fire Training school, the ceremony was held on Welfare Island, the name Roosevelt Island had at the time.  He had no idea then that 'his' firehouse would be located on the Island, and he would be Chief of Rescue Operations for the New York City Fire Department, overseeing the work of nearly 500 firefighters.  That would happen nearly three decades later.  "I did not attend class on the Island, but I did train on some of the old buildings that existed before apartments were built here.  In fact, the Fire Department had its first training school on the Island, right where Motorgate stands today.  The current firehouse was built in the 1970's when the housing was built."

The firehouse located here has one unit with pumper and hose on the Island at all times just in case the bridge is not in operation and units from outside cannot reach.  "There are two hospitals on the Island so we cannot take any chances," Downey said last summer, talking over the pictures of grandchildren on his desk.  The hospitals are classified as requiring a "special incidents" unit and this is why residents hear fire engine sirens all the time.  Whenever an alarm goes off in either of the hospitals, three fire engines, two ladder companies and the Chief go down to investigate.  Sometimes it is a false alarm, but the units have to go.  "It seems like a lot of fire engines going up and down but that is only because this is a small community.  If you look on the other side of the river, the noise is much greater.  Also, there is just one road so, when we drive up, people think something major is happening.  For regular apartment building incidents, fire engines come from across the bridge.  We only investigate the special incidents," Downey told The WIRE.

Roosevelt Island was chosen to be the headquarters of the Special Operations Command because of its location.  "Response-wise, we are accessible from all the five boroughs," Downey said.  "All five boroughs can be reached by road or river in a very short time.  Also, there is much more space here on the Island.  In most other places, there are way too many buildings and too much traffic."

A Battalion Chief is positioned on the Island to respond to all types of special incidents like building collapses and water-rescue efforts.  One of the units has the capability to light a fire for night rescue.  There are four diving units and a tactical support unit, which has a boat.  There is a crane on the boat unit that can lift a boat and lower it into the river.

The East River is a very rapidly-moving one and, depending on the tide, if someone falls in, the Brooklyn unit is notified, if necessary.  In July of last year, a young girl jumped into the river off the Roosevelt Island Bridge.  The unit on the Island was able to respond immediately and one fireman was so close that he could almost touch her but the tide was very strong.  "We lost her in a matter of seconds," said Downey.

There is a decontamination support unit which responds to all hazardous material accidents as well as a dewatering unit which has special pumps to pump out water during floods.  "I know you won't find the word 'dewatering' in the dictionary but that is the term we use for it because essentially that is what it does," said Downey.

Apart from these, there is a rehabilitation and care unit which looks like an ambulance.  This goes to all the five boroughs and responds to all working fires, supplying water and Gatorade.  It also has misters, which provide water through a fan.

For special events like United Nations functions, two units are stationed on the Island.  This means there are two extra support units for those days.  This also happens each time the Roosevelt Island Bridge is under repair.

On a regular basis, more than a dozen administrative people come in to work at the firehouse.  "Even over the weekend, there are at least ten people working in the firehouse," Downey said last summer.

But for the past ten days, nearly 50 have been working in the firehouse, supplying men and materials to the site where more than 500 heroes, along with Chief Raymond M.Downey, may have made the final sacrifice.