Peter McLaughlin (1964 - 1995) was born in the Bronx and grew up in Northport, NY. McLaughlin had a childhood dream to be a firefighter. He joined the Northport, NY Fire Department Junior Smoke Eaters and earned a certificate from the NYS Firefighters School as a teenager. After serving four years in the Marine Corps, he joined the NYFD in 1988. In 1993 he became the youngest member of the elite Rescue Company 4 in Woodside, Queens, whose mission is to rescue those trapped by fire. On October 8, 1995, while performing a search on the fourth floor at a four alarm fire on 36th Avenue in Long Island City, the fire broke through the ceiling engulfing the apartment in flames; Firefighter McLaughlin's route of escape was blocked by a window gate - he died of burn injuries and smoke inhalation.