Firefighters Celebrate St. Patrick's Day Despite Marching Orders

March 18, 2007 New York - The St. Patrick's Day Parade stepped off at 11 a.m. Saturday but the firefighters didn't get going on until nearly two hours later. Way ahead of them were members of the Police Department and the Fighting 69th infantry regiment, and waves of bagpipers and step dancers in orange, white and green. It was an unprecedented position for the FDNY, which usually joins the police and infantry at the front of the annual march enjoyed by 2 million onlookers. But parade organizer ...