FDNY asked us at the time the first tower collapsed to relocate to a staging area in the Bronx, which is where out-of-city departments were staging. We would be assigned from there. As we were getting ready to go, the second collapse occurred, and FDNY told us to go directly to the World Trade Center. We responded with an engine, a ladder, and a heavy rescue. The units staged in two areas on West Street.
We have a different radio frequency than FDNY, so we could have conversations between the two staging areas without having chatter going over the fireground channel.
We were assigned to the incident area because we had a telescoping light tower on our rescue. A lot of rescue equipment was lost in the collapse, so when it got dark we supplied light to the scene and light and power to run the command post.
After we set up the rescue with the lights, we did whatever tasks we were assigned. I went with a few chiefs into the work areas to observe operations. You just knew the FDNY rescuers would not leave that pile. They had 200 brothers under that mess and nobody was going to get them to leave the pile.
The search and rescue was a very private thing for FDNY. We were there to offer help but we did not want to be intrusive.
I couldn’t believe the scene. I thought where I was observing was horrible until I saw another part of the collapse. It was like some kind of horror movie. Fire trucks were squashed to the size of a desk. Firefighters were climbing piles, trying to listen, trying to find voids. Finding fatalities. When they carried out a firefighter, everyone stopped and took off their helmets.
I have been in the fire service 35 years, and I never saw anything even remotely like this, and I hope I never see anything that tops it. I knew a few guys involved. I can only imagine what FDNY feels like losing hundreds they knew.
This is reason to show that fire departments, especially locally, need more money from the federal government for domestic preparedness. No matter what type of event occurs-manmade or natural disaster–firefighters must be equipped and trained to meet these needs. We are the guys who are going to get he call. We need training to make it happen. Tons of money goes to the Department of Justice and others, but we need money to come locally to fire departments. This shows that fire departments in America really need to be beefed up. All this falls on the fire department, and the fire department is usually the only one not funded to a great degree.
