The other half was now the WTC command post with the apparatus floor as a huge interagency meeting space and the second floor for the command and section chiefs. Half of the firehouse quartered Engine 7, Ladder 1 and Battalion 1. We gave this map to every agency working at what would become known as Ground Zero.Ī week later, we moved the command post a half-dozen blocks away to a large three-story firehouse on Duane Street, my firehouse. Our Geographical Information System (GIS) Unit provided a one-page grid map of the site, dividing it into four quadrants with the footprints of where the buildings once stood. One daunting task was to make sure there was situational awareness about the 16-acre collapse area.

We followed the Incident Command System and formally assigned chiefs to the command and section positions. While the building was damaged, it was still intact. Over the next week, we established an incident command post at the quarters of Engine 10 and Ladder 10, which was located directly across the street from the South Tower. Little by little, deputy chiefs began to take command as those of us who survived, responding units and off-duty firefighters gathered on the pile of twisted steel and crumbled concrete. I wondered, “How do we build a command structure for such unthinkable destruction?” Our senior command chiefs were killed, and the next in line were injured. Having barely survived, we stood at the edge of the rubble pile with our fire helmets and gear covered in thick gray dust. Without knowing that the South Tower collapsed, I quickly ordered all units to evacuate the North Tower, which collapsed 29 minutes later. In seconds, the lobby of the North Tower went completely black. Later, in the middle of our rescue and evacuation efforts, we heard inconceivable loud rumbling sounds.

What I did not understand at that moment was how the situation would continue to evolve over those 102 minutes, including a second plane smashing into the WTC, this time the South Tower. In my message, I was telling units that this was not an accident but a terrorist attack. Key to my decision-making during the initial shock of this extreme event was to take a moment to think and frame the incident. Transmit a third alarm.” I then gave specific instructions on what I wanted these units to do. It looked like the plane was aiming for the building. In about 60 seconds, I radioed dispatch again and said, “We have a number of floors on fire. I had to slow my thinking and create a “deliberate calm” to consider what I needed to do next to take command of the largest fire in FDNY history. But knowing that I would be the first chief to take command at the scene, dozens of thoughts were streaming through my head. Transmit a second alarm and start relocating companies into the area.”įrom years of experience, I knew I had to give a concise report. I picked up the radio and told the dispatcher, “We just had a plane crashed into the upper floors of the World Trade Center. As the plane disintegrated inside the building, a massive fireball erupted, followed by an unforgettable boom.įirefighters jumped on their rigs as I ordered them “to go to the Trade Center.” We were going to the largest and most dangerous fire of our lives with 20,000 people in desperate need. That morning I could not imagine that responding to an odor of gas in the streets of lower Manhattan would be the last time anything would resemble routine.Īt 8:46 a.m., I heard the roar of jet engines and watched a passenger plane intentionally crash into the North Tower. I solemnly stand in my dress uniform, recalling what I was doing that fateful day and the many faces of first responders who reported to me in the North Tower.

We pause to remember each significant moment when terrorists used four commercial airlines as missiles, and the ensuing collapse of both 110-story World Trade Center (WTC) towers.įor me, each anniversary brings me back to the WTC site, where reflective pools represent the Twin Towers’ footprints, with the names engraved of all the victims. On the anniversary of 9/11, firefighters worldwide stand at attention and render a respectful salute. Learn more and order “Ordinary Heroes” here. We walk with him and his fellow firefighters through weeks of rescue efforts and months of numbing grief as they wrestle with the real meaning of heroism and leadership. Through Chief Pfeifer’s eyes, we see the horror of the attacks and the courage of the firefighters who ran into the burning towers to save others. This article is adapted from “Ordinary Heroes: A Memoir of 9/11” by Joseph Pfeifer in agreement with Portfolio, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC © Joseph Pfeifer, 2021.

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