By: Lt. Amy Steelman
Firefighter and Filmmaker
Introduction by James Careless, Videographer Magazine:
Amy Steelman is a firefighter, filmmaker and writer, who has devoted most of her adult life to serving as a firefighter advocate. She began her fire-rescue career in suburban Indianapolis as a firefighter and emergency medical technician. During the WTC disaster Steelman spent 16 days covering the event, reporting for CNN, CBS News, BBC, 48 Hours and NHK Japanese Television. Amy Steelman now serves as a line officer with the Kennett Fire Company in suburban Philadelphia.
Reflections from Ground Zero:
(Ground Zero, New York City) — You’ve seen images of the World Trade Center disaster. Those chilling scenes of terrorism at America’s doorstep have led national headlines for months. But for our team, a somewhat different story came to life when, on September 11th, we arrived in lower Manhattan to document the rescue and recovery efforts at the now infamous site, Ground Zero.
Buried deep inside 40 acres of twisted steel and shattered concrete were many thousands of innocent victims – among them 400 firefighters and law enforcement officers. A dozen were our personal friends – all of them were our brothers and sisters.
Where our story differs from other reporting is in our discovery of the true essence of the emergency service brotherhood. A courageous family put to the ultimate test.
This is not a tale of heroics — nor is it an account of the devastation. Those facts are already evident and well documented. This is the story of the people who worked the scene — firefighters, law enforcement, and medics — united as one group, and bound by a common goal.
“Arrival in Hell”
It’s Wednesday morning – just 24 hours since the disastrous events of September 11th. Stunned and angry, the world watches the drama unfold on TV, as thousands of emergency personnel from around the USA converge on Manhattan. Among them, several hundred EMS crews, who stage along the West River Drive, waiting their turn to work the scene.
At the outer perimeter, we join a convoy of emergency personnel and make our way into the disaster area – a place that firefighters now refer to as The Pile.
Onboard our EMS truck, a trauma expert named Dr. Gray, describes the types of injuries that he expects to encounter today. Though we don’t know it yet, sadly, there will be no injuries for him to treat.
At the secondary checkpoint, we’re forced to continue by foot. And as we get closer to the scene, we quickly understand why.
The scene is surreal, best described as a battleground. There is debris everywhere! Sidewalks covered with concrete and steel — and littered with evidence that this war zone was once a thriving area of commerce.
Hundreds of vehicles line the streets – little more than charred, crushed skeletons. An abandoned FDNY engine – whose crew is among the missing – continues to pump water from the nearby Hudson River.
Windows – everywhere windows – have been blown out, leaving gaping, eerie holes. Surrounding buildings, left unstable by the collapse of the twin towers, fall victim as well. Very often, with no warning.
Just minutes earlier, officials were monitoring radio traffic and cellular calls from firefighters and civilians trapped in the basement of Building #7. But with the collapse, also came the end of those calls for help.
We follow the members of a Bronx Tower Ladder, which was dispatched to assist in rescue operations here. But Tower-51 didn’t make it in time, and the team’s mission changes. Now faced with a 10 story pile of flaming debris, there is little that these firefighters can do but douse the smoldering ruins.
Still a quarter of a mile from the actual collapse zone, the next assault upon our senses is the thick, oppressive air – a mixture of smoke, asbestos, fiberglass, concrete dust and glass particulate. We’re provided with paper surgical masks, but they quickly prove to be inadequate. Respiratory problems will plague rescuers for weeks to come. I, myself, do a three-hour stint at Roosevelt ER after spending 16 hours on “The Pile”.
We’re now just a few blocks away. Towering portable TV lights burn through the smoke and particulate, flooding the area in an eerie wash.
“The View from Ten House”
We reach “Church Sector”, the FDNY command post that was once home to Engine and Truck 10. “Ten-House” the famed stop for visiting firefighters and their families – stands just 50 yards from what were once New York’s most popular tourist attraction.
The scene is surreal and comes directly from a science fiction motion picture. Incredibly, the twin 110 story towers have pancaked into a pile of debris just a few stories tall. An 18 story facade stands as a lone monument, its jagged frame silhouetted by the night sky. The church-like spire serves as a chilling reminder that many thousands remain entombed here.
Rescue teams are scattered over acres of debris. They tread lightly atop the wreckage, searching for signs of life and hoping for just one more rescue.
Along Church Street, demolition engineers consult with fire officers to determine the best course of action at the North Tower. Heavy equipment operators finesse their mighty machines, revealing layer upon layer of steel and debris. The whine of diesels and the crunching of mighty pneumatic jaws are the predominant sounds in this newly-established emergency village.
Nearby restaurants and businesses are windowless, covered in a layer of concrete dust — their contents undisturbed. Other storefronts are turned into command posts, MASH units – even eateries. All of which support the ongoing RECOVERY effort atop “The Pile”.
Traveling around the disaster scene is an experience like no other we’ve ever encountered. Ground Zero has been divided into four HUGE sectors, where dozens of emergency response agencies, from throughout the nation, and around the World, working side by side.
“USAR Teams Shine”
Urban Search and Rescue teams are paired with FDNY commanders and make their way onto the pile. Our own company is assigned to assist an FDNY FAST team, and we extend our aerial horizontally over the pile, just in case.
Crews comb through the collapsed ruins, with an attitude. They’re working against the clock – knowing that as hours slip away, so do the chances of victim survival.
Out of the rubble emerges a familiar face – Lt. Mike Nugent of the South Florida Task Force. He’s just spent 12 hours UNDER the WTC debris, searching voids, including a shopping plaza and subway. Having worked with him before, we know just how diligently he and his team have trained for disasters. But he says that nothing could have prepared them for this.
From Indianapolis, a Marion County USAR safety officer surveys adjacent structures to determine what hazards exist at Ground Zero or rescue and recovery teams. Firefighters nickname this one “The Widow Maker,” a 12 story section of the South tower which imbedded itself into a nearby high-rise, and now hangs precariously above the rescue operation.
Canine heroes pause amidst a pile of debris – their bark signaling that they’ve found life – or perhaps death.
There is danger all around, as USAR members team-up with an FDNY Squad Company to search a VOID, that is unearthed by heavy equipment. This tunnel leads down to a parking garage, but the team leader is unwilling to send his crew through such a narrow abyss. He calls for technical support.
Using fiber optic cameras and sensitive listening devices, this unlikely combination of New York and Indy firefighters stand quietly together, hoping for signs of life. (pause)
The officer wants to search deeper, but is still reluctant to assign humans to the task. He calls for a “BattleBot”, a remotely controlled robotic device armed with its own camera and light. Within moments, the $20,000 android is making its way deep inside the debris – taking the search to the next level.
Frustration is clearly evident, as is the heartache and helplessness, that shows on the faces and echoes in the voices of rescue teams. Though some members of America’s USAR teams express feelings of inadequacy and failure — in truth, it is their most shining moment.
As we continue to skirt Ground Zero, we come across a huge contingent of law enforcement officers from communities throughout the East Coast. They’re working their own pile – and labor relentlessly in an area where many Port Authority police are reported to be missing.
With 5-gallon buckets in hand, they form two endless lines, moving debris from atop “the pile” – to the perimeter area. Even though there are several thousand working here – the area is QUIET. Dead quiet.
Determination and resolve is the focus of their mission, as they work tirelessly to accomplish the unspoken goal. Unrealistic? Maybe. Without merit? Never!
Police officers staff this line 24 hours a day – and 16 days later – when we finally leave Ground Zero – the image of their task is etched in our minds forever.
“The Dig”
We work our way deeper onto Ground Zero to “the dig” itself, and meet up with a team of New York firefighters, who seem to have suspended their search. The climate here is much more subdued, and one firefighter whispers to me that they’ve just found one of their own.
We keep our distance as the painstaking task of recovering a fellow firefighter begins. Using shovels that aren’t much larger than garden spades, the debris is carefully and lovingly removed, and the bucket brigade begins its task of moving evidence to the perimeter.
The emotion shows on every face, as an engine company makes headway and uncovers the remains of a fallen brother. Fellow firefighters gather around this holy place, and say a silent prayer. Everyone here stands in honor as one of the bravest leaves the firescene for the last time.
Then, drawing strength from one another, they move slowly away to continue the search in another place.
“Lessons Learned”
During those first days following the attack, the hope at Ground Zero was to get in – and get trapped victims out. But the collapse was devastating, with millions of tons of debris raining down on the unfortunate victims. There were NEVER any rescues.
Each and every life that was lost was not – and shall never be – in vain. Why? We came together as a people – and we pulled together as a nation. We reclaimed our patriotism as a country, and we counted every blessing in our lives.
During those 16 days in September, we met many hundreds of good men and women at Ground Zero — and if there is one lesson that we’ve learned it is that they are that they are the HEROES of our lifetime — and we shall never forget their contribution.
