World Trade Center

The photographs on this page were captured during a recent trip to the site of the World Trade Center Disaster in New York City, known as "Ground Zero". The Chief along with the Massachusetts State Fire Marshall Steven Coan, West Springfield Fire Chief Flaherty, Georgetown Deputy Fire Chief Roeder and under the direction of New York City Firefighters got the chance to view the site first hand. The photos depict a scene that most people don't get to see, the inside view of Ground Zero. Some pictures contain a description, which can be viewed by scrolling over the thumbnail image of the photograph. All photography by Deputy Chief Roeder and Photos courtesy Chief Travers. Click on pictures to enlarge.

World Trade Center Building Performance Study
Data Collections, Preliminary Observations, and Recommendations

0847	Box 8087	Fifth Alarm - 33 Units
0851	Box 9031	Additional Units
0851	Box 1377	Third Alarm Staging Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel 23 Units
0908	Box 9998	Fifth Alarm - 33 Units
0944	Box 0050	Second Alarm to Staging Area - 18 Units
0954	Box 2033	Fifth Alarm - 33 Units
1111	Box 0320	Staging
Sept. 12, 2001
1000	Box 0100	Relief Box
2223	Box 0114	Relief Box
Sept. 14, 2001
1657	Box 0300	Relief Boxes that continued to May 30, 2002

7:59 AM - American Airlines Flight 11, carrying 92 people, leaves Boston for Los Angels.

8:01 AM - United Airlines Flight 93, carrying 45 people, leaves Newark, NJ, for San Francisco.

8:14 AM - United Airlines Flight 175, carrying 65 people, leaves Boston for Los Angels.

8:45 AM - Tower 1 (north tower) of the World Trade Center is struck by American Airlines Flight 11.

9:40 AM - American Airlines Flight 77, carrying 64 people from Washington, D.C. to Los Angels, crashes into the Pentagon.

9:49 AM - Federal Aviation Administration blocks airline takeoffs nationwide.

FDNY protects more than 8 million people in five boroughs covering 320 square miles.

The department responded to more than 29,281 structural fires and 31,058 non-structural fires in 2000.

FDNY EMS units responded to 1.2 million medical emergencies in 2000. 400,000 of which were critical/life threatening.

The department employs approximately 11,400 officers and firefighters, 2,800 emergency medical technicians and paramedics and 1,200 civilians.

After the first tower collapsed, FDNY recalled hundreds of off-duty personnel to help establish command and assess potential rescue strategies.

Within an hour of the Trade Tower attacks 23 EMS supervisors had been dispatched, along with 29 ALS units and 58 BLS units. Eight hours later, 31 EMS supervisors had been dispatched and were working with approximately 400 on scene ALS units (28 from voluntary hospitals) and 98 BLS units (23 from voluntary hospitals).

With only minutes between the two tower collapses, many EMS personnel, desperate for air, escaped into vehicles.

The Millennium Hilton served as both backdrop and shelter for personnel before and after the tower collapsed.

"The most amazing thing out of the whole operation is the independent action from the EMT's and the paramedics that regrouped, followed their basic training and took a lot of leadership on their own." - Chief Robert A. McCracken

"I can still smell the Trade Center sometimes-in my car, in clothes that I wasn't wearing down there. I go to my closet and put three or four jackets on before it finally doesn't smell like the World Trade Center."

"When the list of guys missing came out, it took me three or four days to go through it. After two or three pages, I had to stop. Guys I've known for 23 years were killed, over a hundred men-and I know them.

I don't think any firefighter that day thought twice about entering the Twin Towers. As firefighters, you never think twice about advancing into the jaws of death; it's installed in our blood and character.

To Make Donations To The Widows & Children's Fund Send Checks To:
Widows & Children's Fund C/O
Uniformed Firefighter's Association
204 East 23rd Street, NY, NY 10010
or call the UFA office at 212-683-4832
Please use Tax ID number 13-3047544

** information courtesy "Courage Under Fire" a supplement to Fire / Rescue Magazine