'Ghostbusters' firehouse, President Obama pay tribute to Harold Ramis

When you need a fitting tribute to Harold Ramis, who you gonna call? Try the Hook & Ladder 8 Firehouse in New York City.

After word broke yesterday that Ramis had passed away at the age of 69, the firehouse — home base of the Ghostbusters themselves — hung up a replica of the film’s iconic sign. In addition to co-starring as Dr. Egon Spengler, Ramis also co-wrote the 1984 classic and its 1989 sequel.

But it wasn’t just the sign that paid tribute to Ramis’s work. Elsewhere, many on Twitter documented a growing memorial outside the building that contained flowers, candles, and — of course — packages of Twinkies.

Yesterday, Ghostbusters co-star/co-writer Dan Aykroyd responded to Ramis’s death by tweeting, “Deeply saddened to hear of the passing of my brilliant, gifted, funny friend, co-writer/performer and teacher Harold Ramis. May he now get the answers he was always seeking.”

President Obama also remembered the late writer/actor/director. In a statement issued Tuesday he said, in part, “When we watched his movies – from Animal House and Caddyshack to Ghostbusters and Groundhog Day — we didn’t just laugh until it hurt. We questioned authority. We identified with the outsider. We rooted for the underdog. And through it all, we never lost our faith in happy endings. Our thoughts and prayers are with Harold’s wife, Erica, his children and grandchildren, and all those who loved him, who quote his work with abandon, and who hope that he received total consciousness.”

Now we know Obama is a Caddyshack fan.