343rd FDNY member dies from 9/11 illness — matching number killed during attack: officials

As many FDNY members have now died as a result of 9/11-related illnesses as those who were killed during the terrorist attacks 22 years ago following the deaths of two more of New York’s bravest this week, fire officials announced.

Firefighter Robert Fulco, who served in Engine 250 in Brooklyn, died of pulmonary fibrosis on Saturday, Uniformed Firefighters Association officials said.

The 73-year-old was the 343rd former member to die, which is the same number that died on Sept. 11, 2001. 

Another former FDNY member, EMT Hilda Vannata, 67, died on Wednesday after a battle with cancer, FDNY said. 

She and Fulco suffered from illnesses as a result of time they spent working in the rescue and recovery efforts at Ground Zero.

“Since marking the 22nd anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks earlier this month, we have experienced the loss of two more FDNY members due to World Trade Center illnesses, our 342 and 343 deaths,” Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh said in a statement on Saturday. 

“We have long known this day was coming, yet its reality is astounding just the same.” 

Kavanaugh called the deaths “a somber, remarkable milestone.”

“We have now suffered the same number of deaths post September 11th as we experienced that day when the north and south towers fell. Our hearts break for the families of these members, and all who loved them,” she said.

Fulco joined FDNY in 1977 and battled blazes until his retirement in August 2002, UFA president Andrew Ansbro told The Post.

He had been on oxygen for the last few years but was deemed too old to receive a lung replacement.

Vannatta was born in Puerto Rico and joined FDNY’s EMT squad in 1988 and served for 26 years at Battalion 14 – Lincoln Hospital, according to her obituary.

She and her husband, retired NYPD officer and military veteran John Vannatta, both volunteered in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks.

“She embodied public service, honoring a family tradition of first responders, which she passed on to her son” — who is now a 20-year veteran with New York’s finest, her obituary said.

Kavanagh said that there are over 11,000 FDNY members who responded the terrorist attacks that are suffering from World Trade Center-related illnesses, including 3,500 with cancer.

“So many of our members showed up for us that fateful day, and so many were lost,” Kavanagh said.

“The legacy we create for them is one of honor, and one of promise. That is why we continue to advocate for the survivors, and we will not stop pushing until all our members have the care they deserve, for the rest of their lives.”