The heroism of New York firefighters who climbed into the burning World Trade Centre on September 11, 2001, is being revisited in an archive report featuring survivors who still carry the day with them.
Some 343 members of the Fire Department of the City of New York were killed as they entered the twin towers to rescue those trapped inside. The department has said more than 400 of its members have since died from illnesses linked to the rescue and recovery operation.
At 8.46am, Battalion Chief Joe Pfeifer was nearby investigating what he believed to be a routine gas leak when he saw the first hijacked aircraft strike the North Tower.
“I saw the plane aim and crash into the North Tower of the World Trade Center,” he recalled.
The emergency response quickly grew to an unprecedented scale. More than 120 fire engines, 62 ladder companies, 100 ambulances and about 750 FDNY members were sent to lower Manhattan as commanders attempted to evacuate thousands of people.
Firefighters climbed the stairwells carrying equipment weighing more than 75lb after the lifts stopped working. Above the impact zone, 1,355 people were trapped, while three stairwells had been destroyed by the aircraft, leaving only one possible route down.
Retired Fire Commissioner Sal Cassano said the firefighters understood the danger but continued upwards because people were still calling for help.
“They knew that they might not come home, but they knew there were people trapped. That’s our job,” he said.
Dan Nigro, who was the department’s number two on the day and later became fire commissioner, recalled the promise made to those inside the towers. Dispatchers could offer little more than reassurance as desperate calls came through.
“All the dispatcher could say is, ‘We’re coming for you.’ So, we like to keep our promises. You know, we told them we’re coming. We’re coming,” Mr Nigro said.
The collapse of the towers turned the rescue operation into a mass casualty disaster. Among those killed was Father Mychal Judge, the FDNY chaplain, whose body was found by Chief Pfeifer as firefighters began trying to withdraw from the site.
Firefighters who survived later described the loss of colleagues, friends and relatives, as well as the long search through the ruins of Ground Zero. An FDNY health report found that 98 per cent of rescue and recovery workers knew at least one person who died at the World Trade Centre.
For some families, the department’s legacy continued through the next generation. The sons of Chief of Department Peter Ganci, who was killed on 9/11, joined the FDNY, as did firefighters whose fathers died in the attacks.
Josephine Smith, whose father Kevin was with the department’s hazardous materials unit, said the attack had strengthened her determination to serve New York.
“It’s not the job that took my father, it was an act of terrorism that took my father,” she said. “You may have taken my father from me, but the passion in the blood is still there.”
For those who were at Ground Zero, the memories have not faded with time. Mr Nigro described September 11 as “a day that will never leave you”, a phrase that has come to define the enduring grief and pride of the FDNY.
