NYPD Officer who Helped at Landfill after Attacks Dies of 9/11-Related Illness

An NYPD officer who helped with recovery work at a New York City-area landfill in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks died of a 9/11-related illness earlier this month.

A funeral service for Det. Sgt. Robert Fawcett was Saturday, roughly a week after he died Sept. 14, the New York Post reports. He was 64.

Fawcett had served with the NYPD for 21 years. He was among the first to help at a reopened Staten Island landfill that was the destination for thousands of pounds of debris from the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.

“The guy gave his life working at the landfill from day one," Vincent Vallelong, president of the Sergeants Benevolent Association, told the Post. "He was there when there were pools of water that were bubbling."

Vallelong worked with Fawcett in the Brooklyn South detectives squad. He said his longtime friend had been in hospice, and a son who is a nurse was with him until the end.