What follows is an archive of events during the third week of the WTC/Pentagon disasters. For week one events, click here. For a look a the second week, click here. For continuing coverage, return to fireengineering.com.
Laser Monitors Damaged WTC Building
A scientist and his team are using a laser system to monitor the stability of the nine-story World Trade Center Building 4, which was heavily damaged in the September 11 terrorist attacks. It is feared that debris removal at the disaster site could possibly trigger its collapse and endanger rescue workers.
Physics professor Dr. James Sabatier of the University of Mississippi is using a laser system to bounce beams off the building and take readings every half-second to detect tiny shifts in the building’s motion.
The device, Doppler velocimeter, was set up at Battery Park City (about 50 yards from Building 4) the night of September 11. The device was part of a system to detect landmines and was adapted by Sabatier to monitor the building.
The complete story is at www.nytimes.com.
Augusta Mayor Brings $1 Million in Disaster Relief
Mayor Bob Young of Augusta, Georgia, will present a check for more than $1 million to New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani for the September 11 Fund for Family Assistance.
The check represents funds collected for the “September 11th Care and Prayer Crusade” in the Augusta area through the CSRA Community Foundation. The amount was raised in just over a week.
Augusta Fire Chief Carl Scott and Department Chief Harold Willis were in the delegation of Augusta area citizens that accompanied Young to New York City aboard a Delta flight dubbed the “Big Apple Express.”
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World Trade Center And Pentagon Disaster Update
Washington, DC, Sept. 26, 2001 — Thus far, 9,333 persons in the New York City (NYC) area have used the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) toll-free teleregistration number (1-800-462-9029) to register for assistance.
Yesterday, FEMA, New York State and NYC officials conducted a conference call with leaders of national voluntary organizations active in disasters to discuss a long-term strategy for using the millions of dollars in donated funds. FEMA will contact the groups that have been receiving these donations and invite them to coordinate with FEMA in identifying gaps in assistance so that funds can be targeted to those who need it most.
In addition to those from voluntary organizations, 3,571 federal personnel (1,596 from FEMA) are working in direct support of recovery operations in New York and Virginia.
Here is the latest information:
New York
* The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has completed its mission assignment to provide debris estimates and reports that 1.2 million tons of steel, concrete and glass were left on the ground following the World Trade Center attacks. As of last night, 115,756 tons of debris had been removed to a landfill on Staten Island.
* New York City officials report that 279 bodies have been recovered. The number of injured is 6,408 and 6,398 are listed as missing.
* Eight FEMA Urban Search and Rescue task forces remain on duty in New York City. Another task force from Nevada is en route today, and one from California will leave from McGuire Air Force Base tomorrow. Two additional California task forces may depart for NYC this weekend. Six previously deployed task forces have been rested and resupplied and are available to return to New York if needed.
* More than 570 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) personnel are deployed in the NYC area to augment medical personnel assisting victims and rescue/recovery workers. Included are veterinary medical assistance teams that have treated 48 search and rescue dogs to date. HHS mental health services personnel and U.S. Public Health Service reservists are providing services to federal responders at three locations.
* FEMA has approved $11.373 million in crisis counseling funds for the state of New York. FEMA and HHS’ National Institutes of Health Center for Mental Health Services are working with state mental health directors in contiguous states to assess needs.
* Con Edison reports no remaining power outages. All customers who can receive power are connected to emergency generators or to the “extremely fragile” Con Edison grid.
Virginia
* FEMA’s Disaster Field Office reports that the Urban Search and Rescue mission is completed. There are 125 dead or missing at the Pentagon, not including aircraft passengers. To date, 118 remains have been recovered and transported to Dover AFB in Delaware for identification.
* American Red Cross mental health volunteers have provided 6,356 crisis-counseling sessions to victims, families and disaster workers in the aftermath of the Pentagon attack.
Thoughts for the Fire Service
Philip C. Stittleburg
Chairman, National Volunteer Fire Council
The events of September 11, 2001 are indelibly etched on our memories, leaving us startled and pained. We mourn the loss of so many and so much, but most of all the loss of so many of our fire service colleagues. There is little I can say that hasn’t already been said. Still, I will try to share some thoughts that I hope will enable us to place our grief and anger in a positive context.
The fire service epitomizes that which is noble in humankind. Above all else, it requires and champions the twin virtues of dedication and
perseverance. While the statement that the fire service protects the lives and property of its neighbors may be overused, it is no less accurate for that. However, dedication to that mission sometimes comes at an awful cost. We have seen our fire service brothers and sisters pay the ultimate price for their dedication with unflinching courage.
So we ask, “what can we do?” It would seem that there is so little that we can do directly. We probably can’t go to New York City and help sift through the rubble. We can donate to various memorial funds, but that seems so inadequate in relationship to the magnitude of these overwhelming events. And so we are left to ask again, “what can we do?”
We can do what the fire service has always done–we can persevere. We can and will do that because that’s what we’ve been trained for and what we believe in. We know from our training that if we’re part of the incident response, we work to mitigate the damage. We also know that if we’re not part of the response, we stay out of the way and get on with our business.
So we carry on. We persevere. We learn what lessons there are to be learned from this tragedy that may make us and those we command safer and more effective in the future. We apply this newfound knowledge purchased at such an awful cost to improve the safety of those we are bound to protect.
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World Trade Center And Pentagon Disaster Update
Washington, D.C. — Federal agencies continue to support the efforts of state and local governments in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. A total of 6,269 federal personnel are working in direct support of operations in New York and Virginia. This includes 1,506 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and its Urban Search and Rescue task forces. Here is the latest information:
New York
* As debris removal operations gain momentum, the chief engineer of the New York Port Authority briefed federal communications experts on the possible threat to telecommunications conduits beneath the World Trade Center (WTC) should a slurry retaining wall fail. Some engineers and disaster responders fear the wall could fail when debris is removed from the sub-floors of the WTC.
* Latest reports indicate 101,164 tons of debris have been removed from the WTC site to a landfill on Staten Island. FEMA has given a mission assignment to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to arrange for the dredging of the area on either side of Pier 6, which will be used to load steel being removed from the nearby WTC site.
* Officials report as of yesterday, 261 bodies have been recovered from the World Trade Center (WTC) of which 194 have been identified. The number of injured is 6,408 of which 415 remain hospitalized and 6,453 persons are currently registered as missing.
* All shelters in the New York area have closed. Remaining people will be accommodated on an individual or family basis, either in the form of long-term shelter, temporary housing or returning home.
* The latest report indicates 8,386 New Yorkers have called FEMA’s toll free teleregistration phone number to register for assistance.
* Nine FEMA and two non-FEMA Urban Search and Rescue task forces are assigned to the WTC site.
* Five Disaster Medical Assistance Teams, a Medical Support Team and a National Medical Response Team are providing medical services at five operating clinics within five blocks of WTC site.
* Four Disaster Mortuary Teams are operating a field mortuary facility at LaGuardia Airport.
Virginia
* All Urban Search and Rescue task forces at the Pentagon site have demobilized.
* At the Pentagon, officials report 125 dead or unaccounted for, not including 64 aircraft passengers. To date, 118 remains have been recovered and transported to Dover Air Force Base, Del., for identification.
* A Medical Support Team is positioned in the nearby suburb of Rockville, Maryland.
FEMA/Corps To Assist New York City With Debris Removal
New York, NY– The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has asked the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to take on an additional task in response to the terrorist attack at the World Trade Center. The project involves dredging work to lower the depth between Pier 6 and the Corps-maintained navigation channel to allow the city easier access to remove debris to the Staten Island landfill.
The Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company will perform the work under a $790,500 with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Under the project, up to 75,000 cubic yards of material will be removed and transported to the Newark Bay Confined Disposal Facility starting today. It should take about seven days to complete and Corps inspectors will monitor the dredging activities to assure compliance with the appropriate protocols.
The Corps permit to remove the dredged material from the vessel berthing area was issued to New York City on Sept. 20. The federal permit was issued using emergency procedures by the Corps. Coordination with federal and state agencies was completed in one day. The permit was issued in compliance with Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act, which provides for federal regulation of any work in, under or over navigable waters of the United States and Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, which regulates the discharge of dredge and fill materials in United States waters, including wetlands.
The contract was issued to Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company under the sole source provision for urgent and compelling reasons.
Captain Timothy Stackpole Laid to Rest
A funeral mass was celebrated yesterday at Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Marine Park for Fire Department of New York Capt. Timothy Stackpole, lauded by many as “a legend.” Thousands lined the streets to pay tribute to Stackpole, recalled by fellow firefighters as a mentor and counselor and as “extraordinary” by New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.
Fire Commissioner Thomas Von Essen told Larry King on last night’s CNN show that Stackpole was “always willing to teach and train.” Von Essen recalled that Capt. Stackpole, despite the pain he endured from scar tissue on his leg as a result of burn injuries incurred in a 1998 Brooklyn residential fire, never complained and “always talked about drilling and safety, and making the firefighters better.” At that fire, Stackpole and two other firefighters-Capt. Scott LaPiedra and Lt. James Blackmore, were searching in the burning rowhouse for a woman erroneously reported to be in the building when the floor collapsed and they descended into the flames below. Lt. Blackmore died at the scene; Capt. LaPiedra died after 29 days. Stackpole spent 66 days in the burn unit and underwent extensive surgeries and skin grafts. He could have retired with a pension but returned to work in March.
He and the members of the company of firefighters with whom he entered 2 World Trade Center on Sept. 11 were killed when the tower collapsed.
Stackpole leaves behind his wife, Tara, and five children.
Missing Toll Rises and Rescue Hopes Dim
Operations at the World Trade Center have been shifting from sifting through debris by hand to removing twisted steel and crushed concrete with heavy equipment. The hope of finding survivors becomes more remote as each day passes. Rescuers have been searching in the rubble since September 11, the day of the attacks on the twin towers and their toppling to the ground. No survivors of the Sept. 11 collapse have been found. Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said today that it would take a “miracle” to find a survivor and that even though miracles do happen, we should not raise hopes for loved ones.
The number of missing persons has risen to 6,453, excluding the passengers on the two airliners that were flown into the towers. Only 276 people have been confirmed dead, and 206 have been identified. More than 100,000 tons of debris have been removed.
Rescuers have been employing various forms of technology to assist with search operations–among them thermal imaging cameras, listening devices, and topographic images of Ground Zero created with laser-based instruments. Researchers at the Center for the Analysis and Research of Spatial Information at Hunter College analyze the data, collected by EarthData International and used to construct a grid of 100,000-plus points of topographic elevations, about five feet apart, over the WTC area. The Federal Aviation Administration has given EarthData permission to make daily flights over the WTC site to collect the data. For more information on this technology, go to http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/23/nyregion/23TOPO.
Some 20,000 Gather at ‘A Prayer for America” at Yankee Stadium
Religious, political, and entertainment leaders led attendees in an interfaith prayer service at Yankee Stadium yesterday. Some 20,000 attended “A Prayer for America” at the stadium, according to the New York Times. The event was simulcasted at Brooklyn and Staten Island ballparks. The assembly included leaders of various religions, family members holding photos of firefighters who are still missing, police officers, military personnel, and other emergency workers.
Prayers were offered for various petitions, including missing loved ones and tolerance of all fellow-Americans. The congregations prayed together, sang together, and some even held hands as they shared their grief, fears, and determination to rise above the adversity to what Mayor Rudolph Giuliani days will be a “better” and “rebuilt” New York City.
Among the entertainers who participated were Oprah Winfrey, Bette Midler, James Earl Jones, and Placido Domingo.
“Remembrance and Reflection: An Observance to Remember New Jersey’s Victims and Fallen Heroes” was held at Liberty State Park in New Jersey last evening. Actor Christopher Reeves was host. Among the celebrities was singer Ray Charles.
