SUMMARY OF WTC TASK FORCE INTERVIEW WITH FIREFIGHTER MICAHEL

SCHROECK, ENGINE 220, 5™ GRADE, OCTOBER 11, 2001, (51).

Dispatched after 2nd plane hit; took Bklyn Bridge, see smoke, flames, chaos,
bridges were packed; on engine with Geo Marsh, Dean Coutsouros, Owen
from 122, Edmund Plunkett; picked up an ex-member down there (think Joe
from 122, off-duty); parks west of Vesey and heads towards Liberty;
Coming up Chambers when Captain decides to detour around towards
Washington btw Albany and Cedar because of jumpers; then tower starts
collapsing;
Before collapse even, people were saying stick together, Dean said that, but I
ended up separated from everybody; seeks refuge in doorway to some Trust
Plaza on SW corner of Washington and Albany;
When dust settled, went looking for members, could hear pass alarms going
off, people screaming, companies calling; the first thing I heard was 220, 220
(radio? Person?); hooked up w/ guys couple mins later; got to about
Washington, Liberty when 2nd building collapsed; (re location: a little farther
away than when the 1st one collapsed; probably in hotel; tried to get people
out, there was water); then get separated again during collapse and regroup;
Then put out some apartment fires; stretched line from boat to Winter Garden;
being careful because there was a gas odor, a possible collapse; then lost the
line;
Chauffeur and another member went to look for a rig, we found ourselves by
Gateway Plaza w/ members from other companies; went to fight a fire on the
10th floor (describes);
Then some members went to be treated; I went w/ captain back to Vesey and
West; a lot of vehicles and members there; then went to Bellevue that night;
SUMMARY OF WTC TASK FORCE INTERVIEW WITH FIREFIGHTER, 1ST
GRADE, ALFRED MYERS, ENGINE 39, OCOTBER 11, 2001, (52).

• 39 is a high-rise unit; responded to 2nd alarm, as chauffeur of rig; high-rise

following, driven by Jeff Coniglio;
• Went straight from 2nd to 5th alarm;
• Down by Houston when 2nd plane hit; heard it on radio transmit; at Houston
and West could see both buildings fully involved;
• Down on West by towers, told to park behind 3 Engine and high-rise parks
across street; parked on West, right up from north tower, a block from it, past
Vesey and past the pedestrian overpass but can see the front entrance to Tl;
• When I turned around, someone had moved my rig, 39 Engine, right in front
of the north tower; said the chief ordered them to;
• Raining people, some burned, some alive (jumpers);
• An off-duty proby came over to help and I told not to go into the building,
you're off-duty, if something happens to you, they won't your family
anything;
• Rigs are coming in w/ guys on top going in full blast;
• Run over to the rig w/ [the proby?] and chief said to hook up to the Siamese,
which was right in front of the building, I said bullshit, move out of the way,
I'm getting out of here (in the rig w/ some other guys); I pulled the rig right
back to where it had been, farther north;
• Sees Giuliani and entourage coming down West Side Highway; they get out
(about 10 of them) right where my rig is; you hear this crackling noise and the
South Tower is starting to come down;
• Ran north w/ Giuliani and crew; ran north and then west, got to water; to
Vesey and North End St; get to school, told of gas leak, to evacuate; so had to
run back over this way [not identified];
• My guys are in the building so I get on the radio "39 chauffeur to 39, 39;" I'm
on channel 1; get no response at all, but hear radio contacts, hear maydays; go
back toward rig, calling members, control, anyone; no response;
• About a block away from rig, north tower starts falling; much closer this time;
run w/ another fireman, waved towards PS 89 by cop, coming like a tidal
wave, jump into an ESU van just in time; black outside etc; police eventually
come and see if I'm all right, other guy didn't make it, I got his helmet, he was
from 1 engine, helmet 845; continues trying to call guys; no responses;
maydays; chaos, confusion, for a couple of hrs, members trying to find each
other;
• Eventually runs into John Drumm who was in the engine that day; he says the
other guys were behind him and doesn't think they made it; they run into
Rattazzi from Ladder 16; Drumm wanted to go back and look but I stopped;
he turned radio to Channel 7 (he mentioned that some guys were on 7); I
stayed on 1; tried 3 (some guys had been on 3);
• Ran into some FF's looking for their guys; then ran into 6 Truck, eventually
gets an officer from there who responds that he hasn't seen anyone from Eng
39; eventually finds everyone from Engine 39, all ok, and everyone from 16
truck is ok too;
SUMMURAY OF WTC TASK FORCE INTERVIE WITH FIRST GRADE
FIREFIGHTER KEVIN MCGOVERN, ENGINE 53, OCTOBER 11, 2001 (53).

• Hear 1060, turn on TV, see South Tower hit, w/in a couple of mins, assigned
to South Tower; got there in about 10; parked on WSH btw Vesey and
Murray, just found a spot and put it in;
• Reported to 2WFC command post, many jumpers; asked by captain Sedmark
to move rigs north to clear lane for ambulances; we only had to move 2, we
had 2 chauffeurs there; took about 10-15 mins; on way back to command
post w/ Lt Bob Doherty, chauffeur Louis Giancanale, senior guy Eddie
Catcher, 2 probies, I was lagging behind a little bit and just as they got near
the garage entrance the south tower started coming down; 3 guys ran into the
garage, but there was a fence btw the WG and the command post so it made
more sense to run north through a plaza into the WG atrium, then down a
hallway btw the WG and 1 WFC; the made a right through 3 WFC and onto
Vesey; lots of people in buildings; saw 1 proby in WG and grabbed him;
walked west on Vesey, and see other proby in ambulance hyperventilating
near North End Ave; [mentions later] that at this time tried communicating on
radio but figured it wouldn't work; apparently didn't];
• Then there was a call for ambulances to move off Vesey so they moved them
to North End; runs into another FF in bad shape, gets him to ambulance; start
walking north on North End, helps EMT woman who can't find partner;
identified jets above as our jets, turned right on Murray and regrouped on
West; left the 2 probies there and went to look the Lt;
• Headed south on West St and about halfway btw Murray and Vesey when
second tower starts collapsing so I turned and ran north; ducked into
Stuyvesant, then when cloud passed, went back south to Vesey; ran into guys
from Ladder 43 who said my Lt was up by North End and Vesey, someone
had moved our rig there and hooked it to a fireboat; went to tell him we were
ok (me and probies), then went back down and tried to search in rubble; then
pulled off when 7 collapsed then (instructed verbally or by signal, not radio);
• On Channel 1 the whole time;
• SUMMARY: assigned to tower 2; saved because had to move rigs before
going in;
SUMMARY OF WTC TASK FORCE INTERVIEW WITH DECOSTA WRIGHT,
EMT, BATTALION 31, OCTOBER 11, 2001, (54).

• Was working on 31 Adam; call came over computer at about 8:50 as a fire at
WTC; got over bridge asap and staged on West Side Highway in front of
Tower 1; reports to some Lt; sees junipers, then 2nd plane hit; raining people
now;
• "A few minutes later" second tower comes down; ran into the Merrill Lynch
building, it was shaking too, seemed like it would come down, ran into
basement, came out when rumbling stopped, saw building had collapsed,
walked to "that site" (apparently collapse site) and it was deserted; then hear
people moaning, bleeding; had no equipment, there was nothing I could do,
just grabbing and bringing them to safety, they were walking wounded, dazed;
brought paramedic into triage station at (thinks) AMEX building;
• Goes back out; fireman, lieutenants, big brass walking around just in la-la
land; trying to get them to safety when hear second tower start coming down;
started running, had to leave patients, screaming for help; after cloud cleared,
ran back into same building; sent to some hospitals w/ patients by Lts;
eventually ended up at Chelsea Piers or Pier 94; [names people he saw there];
eventually meets up w/ partner, though ambulance was still in rubble and went
back and set up their own triage near building 7;
SUMMARY OF WTC TASK FORCE INTERVIEW WITH CHIEF THOMAS
MCCARTHY, OCTOBER 11, 2001, (55).

• Off-duty, sees crash on TV, calls HQ from home, told by Eddie Moriarty to
go to shops to get the list of spare rigs and where they're located; called from
shops w/ info but couldn't get through; faxed it through;
• First tower collapses; decides to go to Manhattan, gets to Vesey and
Broadway; about 10:45;
• Chief Haring was starting to set up a command post at Park Row and
Broadway, near St. Paul's chapel; he made me Battalion 99; I had one handie-
talkie; as guys filtered in from different companies, all volunteers, I had about
12 guys, 3 of them officers; papers, cement dust everywhere, up to ankles,
blackness, cloud, everything was black where the WTC was;
• Started down Vesey, assigned to go to West Side Highway to rescue Al
Fuentes who was trapped in his car; on the way, in front of overpass to 7
WTC, ESU trucks and police cars on fire with bullets starting to go off inside,
got some tools from them, passed a dead gentleman in street by ESU truck,
this was Vesey and Church; by this time, the second tower had collapsed
(while I was in transit);
• Gets [apparently after 2nd collapse] to overpass that connects 5 & 6 WTC to 7
WTC, went up stairs w/ another FF and tried to help a civilian (John Russo)
from under I-Beam of 6 WTC, then EMS came to help, went upstairs turned
off pass alarms so no one would go there;
• Went back to Church, trying to keep guys on safe side, sent some guys into
Millennium and Century 21 to search; at some point, works w/ ESU guys to
search PA substation, 211 rig showed up, Brian Corcoran from 50 Engine; had
sent guys to get whatever tools from rigs they could, units calling for help on
Path train but then didn't need help anymore; goes through 5 WTC in
response to pass alarms; eventually went out, losing confidence in building 5,
searched a couple of floors in there, Bobby was looking for his brother; a
couple of chiefs were on Church; I went w/ Bobby around Liberty, 10 and 10,
all just rubble; then went to West st; stayed there, Hayden was sending some
guys in and told me to stay outside; I left then, this is when they were waiting
for 7 to come down; went back to command post, a flood of guys there, got
eyes washed at Pace Univ. triage, then back to HQ;
• When I left Pace, heard one radio transmission that Feehan was in an
ambulance, so thought he was okay;
SUMMARY OF WTC TASK FORCE INTERVIEW WITH PARAMEDIC GEORGE
BURBANO, BATTALION 22, STATEN ISLAND, OCTOBER 11, 2001, (56).

• Had left BHS at around 8:30 heading into Manhattan to meet friend at WTC;
2 train stopped and Chambers st and everyone directed to get out (when 1st
plane hit); then hears 2nd plane and runs towards WTC, down towards WTC;
• Around Vesey and West, ran into Joe Cahill who said he said to grab some of
these guys (FD EMTs) and take the ambulance to in front of 5 WTC and set
up triage, we have tons of patients;
• While doing that, 1st collapse begins; drives up West, around Murray runs into
supervisors, a Chief, helps a police officer into ambulance, meets w/ some St.
Vincent's ambulances; then more debris falling; moves farther north; police
office (ESU) wants to go back and try to stop him, he can't breathe;
• Started back south; patients covered with dust etc; move an abandoned
ambulance up north to about Warren St when the second collapse occurred;
everyone hopped in ambulances and moved; there was a police chief actually
running toward the center and we almost tackled him and pulled him in and
ended up by Canal St;
• Eventually told to report to Ferry and treated people there;
SUMMARY OF WTC TASK FORCE INTERVIEW WITH PARAMEDIC MARK
HARRIS, BATTALION 2, OCTOBER 11, 2001, (57).

• Interview conducted at Division 6;

• Assigned w/ partner Kathy Zarr after 1st plane hit; second plane hits as coming
out of tunnel; directed down Liberty St to South End Ave and parked in
Gateway Plaza behind WFC at Au Bon Pain; vehicle second to last in line of
about 10, with the Hatzolah and MERV in the corner; in a little alcove;
• Advised by Chief Grant to set up a primary or secondary triage center; told
there was one inside WTC and once that came out, patients would be brought
to us; told we would be moved up to approx West Side Highway; we set up,
used tables at ABP; after about 10 mins, we moved ambulances about 10 ft
father down making them parallel to WSH so we could go out North End St
towards any of the hospitals;
• Had no patients yet; stood w/ police officers on divide of WSH; watched
jumpers, saw 2 fall on firemen, one fireman cut in half, other exploded; saw a
PA policeman and a few civilians killed by falling debris and a few other
firemen as they were going into the building; at least 2 to 5 people I saw get
hit by bodies;
• Went to tell Chief Grant and McCracken about situation because they were
going to set up triage in front of building;
• When got back, heard roar, like engine, thought it was plane, it was first
collapse; dove under ambulance, dug out and ran behind ABP, got under
table, found water, couldn't see, breathe, cut cornea in half; then ran inside
ABP and started pulling people out; one or two dead people; ambulances,
MERV destroyed; started running toward the building (ABP?) pulling people
out, had no equipment etc; someone remembered there was a little pier w/ a
park by Rector Street; started evacuating people from Battery Park City
buildings and set up evacuation point on to tug boats;
• An EMS Captain, will not mention names, ran away and cowered so I took
command and asked for every EMS's name to set up 2 sectors; we evacuated
about 5000 people and I even went on the Richmond frequency [?], will get in
trouble, I tried to tell the citywide dispatcher, but we kept getting cut off; told
him 22 Victor w/ a priority, we were evacuating people to I didn't know
where, but we were evacuating people; there was no officer;
• Went back to get equipment in ABP; firemen and police milling around there;
[describes later, in response to question] that saw Chief Ganci, knocked down
and (inaudible); it could have been another fireman but someone said, oh god,
that was Ganci; John Perrugia was talking to him and then Perrugia walked
away and a couple of minutes after that I had come down; it was a white
helmet and I was told by one of the firemen it was Ganci; something hit him;
someone said a body, I don't know, but something hit him;
• People buried by a group of phones across the st from ABP; then second
collapse started; people piled into vehicle 145 (which I was driving); went
back down towards South End Ave; got out, hit w/ cloud etc;
Then, drive 145 around trying to pull people out, along WSH, get to Albany
and turned, then walked toward the trade center; pulled people out of what I
think were our ambulances; pulled more people out for about an hour, got as
close as possible to the site;
On way to ferry, ran into Batt Chief and 2 people, partners, and tried to walk
up and see if we could help people but everyone was buried; couldn't get
close enough [?]; went down to staging area, "pier" [Chelsea Pier?];
eventually taken to hospital
SUMMARY OF WTC TASK FORCE INTERVIEW WITH PARAMEDIC MARC
COHEN, SHIELD 2093, BATTALION 22, EMS COMMAND, OCTOBER 11, 2001
(58).

• On way to Mark Green HQ for election day w/ partner Kenny Davis when
saw 1st plane hit from 59th St Bridge; went to HQ on 42nd St, phoned in and
told to go Metropolitan Hospital and secure a vehicle; Lt Craig Wing was at
the desk and gave us keys to a vehicle w/ about 5 other off-duty EMS
members; while on FDR down, first building collapses, directed by Manhattan
South to go the South Ferry terminal; arrived there between collapses because
looked up and saw that one building had collapsed but other was standing;
people who could walk being directed to walk north, some people getting on
private boats;
• No patients, so walks around to see if there are any, around ferry parking
terminal and up to a little south of the Bklyn Battery Tunnel, when 2nd
building collapses; back to Ferry Terminal, some chiefs etc arrive, treats
patients until about 5pm;
SUMMARY OF WTC TASK FORCE INTERVIEW WITH EMT VALERIE LONGO,
OCTOBER 11, 2001, (59).

• After 1st plane hit assigned w/ partner Steve Hess to wait and VZ Bridge;
think 2nd plane hit while on Gowanus to Battery Tunnel; came out of the
tunnel on West St and had to avoid hitting body parts and plane parts, told to
go to West and Vesey; there, told to park in front [of what?] because we were
23 Henry, we were about 3rd ambulance up; told us not to do anything right
away; there was a little triage center in the back of the AMEX building;
• 1st building collapses, runs down Vesey to North End, then directed to go back
and get bus and met up again on NE and Vesey; told to set up triage there and
not to; when putting equipment back 2nd tower collapses, told to get buses and
get the hell out, went up Murray to dead end at River Terrace, at Vesey by the
water; helped people w/ masks, water etc, Eric Hanson w/ LSU was there;
eventually directed by Captain Nahmod up to Chelsea Piers;
• At Chelsea Piers, they had us sit w/ about 500 other buses, ravaged our
ambulanced, and just wait; then released at 3pm and told to go tend to 400
other jobs holding in Manhattan; we said absolutely not, our ambulance was
covered in debris, we had no equipment, we are scared shit; they told us you
can't go home, go into the system and we said absolutely not; went to station
and ended day;
• General comment: when buildings are burning, you should not park / stand in
front of the building
SUMMARY OF WTC TASK FORCE INTERVIEW WITH PARAMEDIC STEPHEN
HESS, SHIELD 5612, 23 HENRY, OCTOBER 11, 2001, (60).

• Assigned with partner Valerie Longo after first plane hit to wait at VZ Bridge,
then to Bklyn Battery Tunnel, then through up WSH to West and Vesey; got
there after 2nd plane hit; body parts, plane parts; Lt Brad Mann took our unit
designation since we were HAZTAC and staged us close to corner of West &
Vesey; they wanted us to stay there, so we were told we would help w/ triage,
not do any transporting; there were about 30 patients there, but we were kind
of kept to the side because they wanted us available near our unit;
• Tried to help some people, 1st tower collapses; run up Vesey towards river;
partner says I picked her up, got to North End Ave; told by an EMS captain to
go back and get ambulance; told partner to stay there while I did it [though
Longo seems to indicate she went]; treating patients, irrigating eyes etc, when
2nd collapse occurs; jumped in bus and drove up near Hudson River, near the
park, and kind of got caught in a loop;
• Eventually sent to stage at Chelsea Piers; treated patients there but didn't do
any transports [though partner indicates that they were held in bus and not
allowed to do anything]; released at 3pm; [discusses various people he saw,
doesn't know many Manhattan people, is from SI];
SUMMARY OF WTC TASK FORCE INTERVIEW WITH CAPTAIN ABDO
NAHMOD, EMS, OCTOBER 11, 2001, (61).

• Assigned to office of operations that morning w/ Lt Mann on 7th fl when heard

that WTC was hit by a plane; many people began to respond in different
vehicles; I responded with Richard Zarrillo, specials events coordinator, w/
Mr Drury from BITS in his vehicle; communicated w/ Chief Peruggia via the
landline and told to report to 7 WTC to set up OEM;
• Went w/ Zarrillo to 23rd floor, logged onto terminals and informed citywide
dispatch supervisor that we were activating OEM at this time and operations
were to begin; moments later, we were evacuated from the building by OEM
staff because they believed there was another possible plane on its way
[doesn't mention second plane hitting, but this is apparently 3rd plane
rumor??];
• Down stairs of 7 WTC and out on street, saw Peruggia, Cptn Stone, and I
believe an EMT from Div 1; trying to establish a command center, as well as
treatment and triage sector; believe Peruggia was trying to establish
communication;
• I was directed to move down to the garage area of 7 WTC where there were 4
bays, 1 w/ a truck and 3 empty ones; some EMTs and medics in front of the
building, didn't recognize many because I never work Manhattan, [mentions
various hospitals that were there]; tried to gather our equipment and
equipment from 7 WTC and set up a treatment area at the bottom, met by a
doctor from OMA; about 20 mins later, first collapse starts; we had 1 man w/
an eye injury; everyone started going to main lobby; I tried to cover the
patient up and curled up in a corner of the loading dock;
• Eventually everything cleared and everyone we were with was accounted for;
saw Commissiner Tierney I believe walking out of the building (7); got
patient on to St. Clare's stretcher and wheeled him from Vesey up West to
their ambulance a couple of blocks away; while proceeding north on West St,
2nd collapse took place; took shelter in doorway of Stuy HS;
• Eventually went back towards collapse to look for patients; saw Chief
Carrasquillo and Eric Hanson w/ the LSU up by River St & Chambers; found
an FD EMS command car w/ radio still working on I believe West and
Chambers, there I believe Peruggia and Chief Butler and people were starting
to gather; tried to establish communication but radios weren't working that
well; set up a treatment sector there; eventually resources started coming in,
radios started working; located the MERV, set up different sectors etc; worked
initially w/ MERV than w/ communications;
SUMMARY OF WTC TASK FORCE INTERWITH WITH DR GLENN ASAEDA,
DEPUTY MEDICAL DIRECTOR WITH FIRE DEPARTMENT MEDICAL AFFAIRS,
OCTOBER 11, 2001 (62).

• Was one of the physicians for the Office of Medical Affairs coming on duty as
the on-call medical director for the system; on LIE heading towards Midtown
Tunnel when saw smoke coming from 1 tower (thought it was really from
smokestacks; had just taken course where learned that good day for
bioterrorism if smoke hovers and does not dissipate, looked that way);
eventually heard from other drivers that the tower was hit by a plane; realized
I had forgotten to turn on citywide radio; turned it on first thing I hear is
confirmed aircraft into the WTC, send me everything you've got, this is a hard
hat operation;
• Call Comm Claire on his cell phone in Albany, he was watching it and told
me to give him report from scene;
• Go through midtown tunnel; didn't realize until later that my communications
were lost, didn't know about the 2nd plane; out from tunnel, emergency
vehicles everywhere, marked and unmarked, like a convoy going to WTC;
thought it was a Cessna and maybe bioterror and didn't want to be downwind
though that's where I ended up with the traffic; down east side, then north on
WSH; saw Chief Downey in unmarked car; he smiled and waved;
• Could not continue up WSH so took service road and pulled up next to 2 FD
ambulances under south bridge, I think EMTs, who said that was not the
command post but they decided to set up here because there were so many
people running this way; told them that sounded good but to let a Lt know
where they were; they directed me to the command post across the street from
1 WTC; women's shoes all over, apparently taken off to run;
• Parked on the NW comer of Vesey and West; en route I had heard that Dr.
Cherson, the other physician (previous physician on call) had arrived, about 5
to 7 mins before me; would let him take the lead, direct me where to go; this
was about 9:10, 9:15; met Dr. Cherson and his aide, Paramedic Delgado at the
command post; Chief Ganci was there, Chief Downey was there speaking to
Von Essen, Giuliani and his entourage had walked behind us, and a couple of
fire chiefs; had briefly seen Feehan but don't remember where;
• Cherson then says they're moving the command post into the lobby of 1
WTC, [does not clarify whether Fire or EMS] he's taking his aide, and I
should take the EMS fellow who was w/ us to one of the first treatment areas
set up at 7 WTC; someone brought over 1 antidote kit;
• Went to the loading dock of 7 WTC where EMS Captain Abdo had set up
triage, we were using the START system [explains], there were a few patients;
walking over, I was thinking this is awfully close [to the burning towers];
there were a few patients, a man from 1 WTC 59th fl; there was a Secret
Service or security guy from 7 WTC who told me about Pentagon and that
there was another plane missing; realized then that it was terrorism and we
should get farther away, but right then, the first collapse started;
Grabbed whatever patients we could and ducked w/ about 30 people into an
alcove btw lobby and loading dock; the electrical lights went out; everything
was dark, black, no one had flashlights; finally someone led us w/ the flash of
a camera; saw Abdo who said all EMS people accounted for;
We got to the exit, got the patients, but didn't know which way to go because
had no idea what happened, what had come down etc; ended up going right
btw the 2 buildings which was the right direction because apparently part of 7
was down already; it got a little lighter as we got into the alleyway [btw 7
WTC and the verizon building]; about half a block up, saw a voluntary
ambulance, I think Cabrini, w/ people crammed on board; they were not hurt
so I removed them and put our patients on and told them to go north; saw
another ambulance, people from OEM, Eddie Gabriel, an EMS Chief, some
police, firemen; may have been on Park Place at this point;
Beeper goes off from my wife and I was able to call back from verizon pay
phone, she tells me the first tower fell; at this point, our patients were in
ambulances, the EMS group disbanded; saw Cptn Abdo about 1 block north
on West, were thinking about going back down but realized it might come
down too;
Then it did start to collapse; we turned and ran north; ducked into an alcove,
some cops said we weren't far enough north so we continued running;
When things settled, set up a treatment area about a block south of Chambers;
got some walking wounded, our EMT wrote down names; 1 FF asked me to
take name so they would know he was ok; then evacuated by police because
of suspicious packages; went north and set up at BMCC; people who were
clean went in and people who covered (contaminated) like me treated outside;
again evacuated for suspicious packages and gas leak;
Eventually got up to Chelsea Pier (thought that would be good place for
morgue with ice rink), met up with chiefs and set up hospital; about an hour
later sent to Fire command post on Chambers and West, then evacuated for 7
WTC and then back to command post; set up hospital at Stuy HS, strike teams
near rubble; stayed for about 28 hrs tying to coordinate what we could from
OEM and various agencies [describes]; Comm Claire and others come and
organize rescue etc, [describes coordination effort, treatment areas etc]; all
patients were rescuers;
SUMMARY OF WTC TASK FORCE INTERVIEW WITH FIREFIGHTER FIRST
GRADE VINCENT FIORENTINO, 43 BATTALION, OCTOBER 12, 2001, (63).

• Saw plane on TV, took the 40 and 48 w/ Chief Coyne from Bklyn then got
ticket at 9:10 to relocate the 32; en route, got changed to a 3rd alarm
assignment for the Battery Tunnel, Bklyn side; at some point, Bklyn took
units off our ticket and they were getting another box, an Albany St box I
believe; 201 went through the tunnel ahead of us and was caught in the first
collapse; I believe 113 went ahead too; when the 1st collapse occurred we had
reports that the tunnel collapsed or that there was a collapse at the other end;
the Chief assigned some units to evacuate the tunnel;
• Then we were ordered by Chief Cruthers to take the entire assignment to the
Bklyn Bridge; there was a report the other side was untenable and the 42
Battalion went alone [this appears to be this firefighter's battalion; transcript
indicates 43 but interview is at 42 Batt; possibly a typo?]; we saw that
Chambers St was clear, reported back and the rest of the third alarm
assignment came over;
• When we got over to Manhattan, we were told to switch to Manhattan
(frequency); the Chief stayed on 1 and I switched I think to 5; both radios had
a lot of maydays but you couldn't tell where they were coming from, then the
radio quieted down, at least on our channels;
• We reported to the command post at Park Row and Broadway; met Chief
Haring there and assigned to work w/ the 15th Div I think; walked across
Vesey to 5 WTC, removed 3 people from the concourse area, 1 guy who had
an I-beam on him; then that building was on fire;
• [At this point he thinks both buildings were down];
• We operated there and then on the fire in number 5, then on a sub cellar fire at
the Bankers Trust building, 130 Liberty [21, 43, and 42 were gathering up
guys that had cylinders to go down], the chiefs stopped guys w/o masks from
assisting further down; then did search on rubble of 2 WTC;
SUMMARY OF WTC TASK FORCE INTERVIEW WITH FIREFIGHTER VINCENT
BUONOCORE, GRADE TWO, ENGINE 278, OCTOBER 12, 2001, (67).

* Was assigned the nozzle; after 2nd plane hit, responded down Fourth Avenue
towards Bklyn Battery Tunnel, saw papers flying in the air; lined up on the Bklyn side of
the Bklyn Battery Tunnel waiting for orders when the 1st tower came down; eventually
got across Bklyn Bridge, went to command center [does not identify which one] parked
the rig and, while waiting for instructions at the staging area, 2nd tower came down;
SUMMARY OF WTC TASK FORCE INTERVIEW WITH FIREFIGHTER FIGHT
GRADE RICHARD VETLAND, ENGINE 278, OCOTBER 12, 2001, (68).

• Was chauffeur of the night tour and day tour of Engine 278; Chief Ed Henry
went first w/ Roger Jackson driving him and John Picarello;
• After the 2nd plane hit, we went down Fourth to Third, over the bridge and
stopped at a staging at the Bklyn Battery Tunnel; when the first building came
down, we had a "clear looking right at us"?; we had been stopped at the tunnel
because Engine 228 said they thought a bomb went off in the tunnel
(apparently were in tunnel during collapse and it was smoke);
• Went over Bklyn Bridge, parked on wrong side of West St, facing everything,
facing south on the east side; don't know if second building had come down at
this point, there was a lot of dust, don't know where we were; from there they
put us in a staging area; [this may be near Stuy HS as reported in cptn's
interview] after about 15, 20 mins I saw Father John from 122 truck and other
people started walking towards us; eventually we parked "in and we started to
go in and they grabbed us and pulled us back;" we left our rig a lot closer than
where they mad us go, so I pulled in and drove right in up over here
somewhere close and then they walked us back to the staging area, unloaded
food and oranges and eventually went to the Millennium [very vague and
unsure; sounds like he's still in shock];
SUMMARY OF WTC TASK FORCE INTERVIEW WITH CAPTAIN JOHN
HENRICKSEN, ENGINE 278, OCTOBER 12, 2001, (69).

• Assigned at 9:10 to report to the staging area at the Bklyn Tunnel, Bklyn side;
while awaiting orders, the first collapse occurred; we had just sent one unit
through the tunnel, I believe 228, and we were going to be the next one
through, but when as the first unit went through they gave an urgent and no
units could go through [this must be bomb report];
• Redirected over Bklyn Bridge to staging area on West St across from Stuy HS
[don't remember by who; there were 2 battalions on the same ticket as us and
that's what was giving us the order; can't recall time]; only civilians on
bridge, pretty orderly; none near our location at Stuy HS; believe we we were
in Manhattan at time of 2nd collapse but nowhere near the trade center; didn't
get to the incident until after that had happened and then directed to the
Millennium Hotel for a cautionary; evacuated for collapse of 7 WTC;
SUMMARY OF WTC TASK FORCE INTERVIEW WITH LIEUTENANT ROY
DAVID, EMS, BATTALION 8, MANHATTAN SOUTH, OCTOBER 12, 2001, (70).

• At about 8:50 was assigned to the academy, the second wk of an EMT

refresher course; heard about plane and was mobilized to the location; there
was a delay in getting vehicles, but some member, both of ALS and BLS
refresher, were placed ambulances and dispatched to the location; we then
were placed on an FD bus and 2 transit authority buses and led in convoy by
Chief McFarland to Manhattan;
• Prestaged at 3 locations, first the Pearl St side of 1 PP for about 35 mins; then
Broadway just north of Chambers 1A a block south of 26 Fed Plaza, then at
Church and Worth because of concerns about Fed Plaza; then were brought to
Stuy HS; I was directed to report to Chief Kowalczyk, who directed me to 225
Broadway, where Chief Wells was in charge of treatment area; was then
brought back to command post and redispatched to same location w/ list of
units to be released and redeployed back into 911 due to the high call volume;
while doing this, I was told by an FBI priest that Father Judge had died and
his body needed transport, so got a unit going off duty to do that [mentions
later that when he got to the church, St. Peters, apparently where Fr Judge's
body was, he appeared to have an eye injury, a heavy bleeding injury to the
left side of the rear of his head, covered w/ debris and crushed mortar and
brick matter; the Father's body was brought to his parish on 31st St, opposite
Engine Co 1]; assisted there, then had to evacuate because of 7 WTC and
moved to lobby of Pace Univ;
SUMMARY OF WTC TASK FORCE INERVIEW WITH EMT RAISEL ABED,
BATTALION 8, UNIT 8 DAVID 2, OCTOBER 12, 2001, (71).

• At first not assigned, but heard so much commotion on radio that asked
Central to send us and we went "even as they dispatched us to the World
Center"??; [apparently got officially dispatched]; working with Charles
Beshett; on the way there, saw the second plane hit the building; partner wants
to stop the bus, looks like the building's going to fall on us, like the whole top
was going to go off [apparently they are somewhere btw 23rd st and the
WTC]; we slowed down and he says we really can't go in there, too much
going off the building;
• But we go to Vesey and West, parked there, vehicle 350; a couple of other
units there, they had set up staging; about 15, 20 people coming out of the
building and nurses from AMEX bringing patients out, some badly burned,
some injured, some in shock; we're treating some; tagging them; didn't go
any farther because of the danger of the situation; then the first collapse
occurred, luckily had gotten all the patients out and transported [all the ones
they got apparently]; didn't actually see it but heard it (thought it was a plane,
that the building was under attack again); like a monster coming out of the sky
that was going to swallow you up;
• Went west towards the river, then up north a little behind the building [does
not identify]; separated from partner at this point; right after the first building
collapsed, people just walking around; didn't know what to do, I was like a
lost little puppy;
• There until 2nd building comes down, ran farther north and then into Stuy HS
while the kids were coming out; they didn't know what happened, directed
them to keep walking;
• Eventually got to Chelsea Piers; then there was a gas leak, another explosion
[?], just total helplessness; eventually got organized, after the second building
came down, but not much you could do, lined ambulances up on West St but
about 400 ambulances just there idling;
• Eventually picked up by a chief who was taking my cptn, who was injured, to
Bellevue (captain had narrowly escaped), then told to take the command car
back downtown to the command center;
• Mass chaos; when the buildings came down, mostly just trying to take care of
ourselves;
SUMMARY OF WTC TASK FORCE INTERVIEW WITH EMTD JAMES
MCKINLEY, SHIELD 5501, BATTALION 8, OCOTBER 12, 2001, (72).

• Was going off-duty when the MERV driver said there's a plane into the WTC;
convinced my Lt to let me go to the MCI; grabbed Smitty, stocked vehicle
169 and went w/ Lt's permission; going down FDR, already saw police
escorting people of Bklyn Bridge and to Chinatown;
• Directed to staging at West and Vesey; going past we met command, don't
remember who, but remember seeing Chief Gumbo; parked on the west side
of the WSH; already about 15, 20 vehicles there; my partner was
communicating w/ the officers, said they wanted us to wait by our vehicles in
case they find something for us to do; was taking whole scene in, watching a
helicopter hover outside of first tower to be hit, when heard explosion thought
it was a boiler or something, didn't know until we were called back to
Chambers and West later that it was a terrorist attack; [this was the first
collapse]; ran w/ everyone up Vesey around North End;
• Didn't know at the time that the building fell; after the smoke cleared, I went
back, helped people covered in dust etc; set up treatment on Vesey and North
End, as I was getting stuff for the treatment area, I was instructed to go back
and treat patients; as I was picking up a patient on the east side of the WSH
and Vesey, I didn't know what was going on; just trying to treat patients, put a
fireman on a stretcher and as I was leading him back to the treatment area,
everyone is leaving; they said the other building is leaning, we're getting out
of here, moving the treatment area, so we put the fireman in the ambulance
and as we were trying to clear the area, the second collapse starts; we ran and
ended up down by the water;
• Eventually went to survey damage and get our vehicles out of the rubble and
told to go Chambers and West; ran into my partner who told me it's Osama
Bin Laden, that something happened in Washington, and the Air Force shot
down a plane in Pennsylvania; at this point, there were explosions or
something so the dispatcher sends us to Chelsea Piers, helps civilians up
(thinks maybe it's chem attack, sarin gas) and sets up staging there; reported
to Lt; then they ran out of planes to drop on us so everything became more
predictable; very few patients; eventually got put back into 911 system and
mistakenly took an unrelated case to Bellevue;
• What I found amazing was that nobody knew what was going on; thought it
was an accident, that's what I was working on, down on the scene; if we had
some idea, think it would have been a lot different;
SUMMARY OF WTC TASK FORCE INTERVIEW WITH EMT JOHN JAGODA,
BADGE 3378, STATION 13, BATTALION 8, OCTOBER 12, 2001, (73).

• Got a call at home, asked if I should come in, rode my bike in, and assigned
w/ another guy, Pete Rosie, down there; parked around Broadway and Vesey,
arrived just as first tower was collapsing; took 3 patients (2 cops) to Bellevue;
• Got back down to Church and Park, vehicle 340, some other ambulances and
supervisors; heard second tower came down over radio, went to WSH and
Barclay, made 5 or 6 trips back and forth to hospitals (Bellevue and Beth
Israel);
SUMMARY OF WTC TASK FORCE INERVIEW WITH EMT ADOLPH SMITH,
BATTALION 8, OCTOBER 12, 2001, (74).

• De-con specialist, assigned to WTC, told to report to west side of West and
Vesey then directed back to park by (inaudible) captain;
• UNABLE TO CONTINUE
SUMMARY OF WTC TASK FORCE INERVIEW WITH LIEUTENANT RENE
DA VILA, SHIELD 328, BATTALION 4, OCTOBER 12, 2001, (75).

• Was assigned or put myself on assignment immediately after I heard the

transmission of the plane hitting the tower, had heard one of one of my units
"01 Charlie" put a priority message over the frequency, and then another one
"01 Adam"; got to about Rutgers and South Street and confirmed there was an
incident (though couldn't confirm it was a plane) over citywide and called for
resources; headed towards Vesey, pre-planned staging area, but ended up
setting up one of the first staging and command posts got on the east side of
West St because of debris; pretty much adjacent to the rescue that was running
into Tower 1; my unit 01 Charlie was right on the other side of the median,
found out later 01 Adam was on Liberty St, a couple of voluntaries came on
the scene; went to the back of 01 Charlie and told them if their patients
walked to tell them get out and run that way [north?], close the door and pull
every triage tag they had available; had to make decision just to triage, even if
the injuries were serious; grabbed 2 guys from 1 Charlie, made one the staging
officer (EMT Alex Loutsky) and the other my voice, Ralph Ramos, (I was
losing my voice); a St. Vincent's unit was getting ready to transport and I told
'you're not going anywhere', triage; knew we had to do that until more
resources arrived;
• In between I'm trying to transmit; told them we had clear access from both
sides of West St; said it was a hard hat operation;
• See explosion (plane hit) from corner of my eye; yell this over frequency etc,
but operations pretty much continue, FF's keep going in except now they're
going in Tower 2 too;
• Eventually other Lts came, Mann, Terranova, Chief Gombo; I turned
command over to Gombo and he asked me what was "in the other side of the
building"; the two guys who were w/ me told me Church and Fulton; Gombo
assigned me to start operations over there, we sent 1 Charlie, in front of the
Millennium Hotel; took long because of debris etc in street; in front of
Millennium, we directed walking wounded to go up Fulton and set up oxygen
etc in this area; had gotten more resources already;
• Complains about command at scene; Cptn Janet Olszewski, not good field
experience; AMR buses blocking ingress and egress; voluntaries a problem,
they can do 911 but had no idea of incident command system, staging etc;
Cptn Olszewski telling Loutsky to track all patients, but way too many, I took
control and told him just to get all minor injuries on buses to Bklyn, don't load
up Manhattan hospitals; don't waste time writing things down, then Bruce
Medjuck, from operations, was talking on the radio; told him you want
command, here's use my radio, but we need to react, someone needs to be
treatment officer; didn't want to pull I'm the senior officer; the way we were
taught in the old days by Goldfarb to do an MCL you triage the patients and
get them out of the way, don't waste time writing things down, playing on the
radio, not with something this big; Duane Walker, a division supply guy,
came with extra tanks of O2;
First collapse starts; run in hotel lobby, follow light into an office, think I'm
trapped, eventually get door open and exit w/ small mag light, find elevator,
worry it's only shaft, go back to office to die, call wife, but then determine to
get out; find way into lobby, exit through side door onto Fulton;
Radio was basically quiet, a couple of point-to-point communications,
maydays, people yelling for help; find Ramos, go back to vehicle, get bag,
walking up Fulton when 2nd collapse begins; run w/ Ramos, trying to stay
alive, eventually gets into a Subway shop, take control there; eventually went
outside, where the avenue opened up, West Broadway, it was a little clearer so
had everyone leave holding hands and head east;
Ramos and I heard on the radio: stage in Battery Park or Chamber and West,
and heard horrible sounds; starts seeing EMS people, looking for others, head
down Beekman, waited for patients; getting people together etc, went to triage
at nursing facility on Pearl and Fulton, doctors asked for eye wash, sent
Cabrini people to bring them supplies from Hospital 01 because I had to get I
had to get to an EMS Command, identifies more people, sees Cpm Parra not
in the mood to listen to him, goes to Chambers and West triage; eventually up
to Stuyvesant, doesn't want to sit around;
[concludes w/ long discussion about problems w/ FDNY merger, how he did
it the old EMS way and his whole battalion survived, how badly they're all
being treated etc]
SUMMARY OF WTC TASK FORCE INTERVIEW WITH CAPTAIN MARK STOE,
COMMANDING OFFICER, EMS, BATTALION 8, OCTOBER 12, 2001, (76).

• Was Unit DC 01; at trailers, moving station when MERV operator, Rick
Perez, informed me of incident; was w/ Dave Harney, a member of executive
administration and my equipment was at Div 1 on Pier 36; got a ride w/ him in
a regular car; called into RCC to make sure I was logged on, called the Div to
have my aide get the truck ready, happened to grab extra cell phone batteries,
then got in the truck and headed there listening to reports on Citywide;
coming out of the Battery Park Tunnel on West, saw 2nd plane hit;
• Lt D'Avila set up initial staging, warned us it was a hard hat operation;
because of grid lock, I got out, walked up and told my aide to meet me;
directed people out of the middle of the street, the evacuation was pretty
orderly; headed towards WTC 1, to where D'Avila was, on Vesey, wanted to
get to lobby command post; was clear getting in as long as you went along the
side of the building;
• Met briefly w/ Chief Gombo in lobby and decided to bring in a couple of units
(9 Charlie, 7 Nora, 11 x-ray: all survived, St. Clare's, Lenox Hill) and set up
in area out of way of command post, they all had helmets; my aide said they
were worried about coming in the building; I said, ok, find me 3 crews that
will come in the building; found some volunteers and it turns out they all
came in;
• Gombo told me to scout out 7 WTC by OEM to set up a triage; found out it
houses OEM and Secret Service etc but they were all evacuated at this point;
felt it was safe to be in lobby; met w/ Chief Peruggia, Cpm Nahmod, Richard
Zarillo, spec events coordinator; left crews w/ Peruggia and he told me to
report back to Gombo;
• Was last one out of lobby of 1 WTC, if had stayed 1 second longer, would
have been there for collapse, if I left one second earlier would have been next
to Ganci when building collapsed; had told a secret service agent to evacuate
himself (he was tired), we were moving all EMS, entire operation out of
building; (this is out of 1 WTC now apparently)
• Made it about halfway across West when I heard a sound that combines a
railroad car, an airplane, a fighter jet and thunder; happened to run into
garage, just made it in, got thrown, everything went black; tries to survive,
finds fireman, then some more, find stairway, only thing lit, out to behind
WFC, get to water; people were jumping on boats on the Hudson, but went
back to Vesey and North End to look for Chief Kowalczyk; saw Goldfarb and
told him I was going to do this; at West and Vesey, ran into Chief Basile,
Chief Cassano (citywide tour commander at the time), Hayden, Pfeifer, then
2nd collapse occurred;
• Ran towards water, it was more gray than black because outside, got to North
End, took a right and it was almost clear; reassembled with Kowalczyk,
Gombo, Basile, moved towards Stuyvesant, but I thought it wasn't far enough
north, Goldfarb agreed that moving up to the Piers was a better idea; the
MERV driver was on North End and Vesey; we started setting up triage there
but relocated it;
I walked north on West w/ my aide Greg; [discusses friends he lost]; [reunites
w/various people];
Taken to Bellevue, nothing serious, was signed off but went back down
anyway, until about SAM
[Questions decisions, glad everyone he sent in got out, no one would have
thought towers would come down; did what they do, go to lobbies, do triage,
do forward triage on upper firs];
SUMMARY OF WTC TASK FORCE INTERVIEW WITH CHIEF ULYSSES GRANT,
EMS DIVISION 5, OCTOBER 12, 2001, (77).

• In office in SI working when someone told me about plane; lots of talking

over citywide radio;
• Decided to go; got there quickly in HOV lane on BQE, waved by PD through
Battery Tunnel;
• Got to West, pushed back, probably because of debris, got out w/ regular MCI
gear and walked up West; saw Chief McCracken w/ his Lt, and Lt Cronin;
many ambulances, Hazollah, municipal, voluntaries;
• McCracken directed me to set up treatment where we were at South End and
probably Liberty, was discussing moving it back, coordination w/ Hazollah
rep when people started running towards me; didn't know why; didn't hear
roar, but saw cloud;
• Jumped into open Hazollah truck; eventually gets out and hold onto guy who
gets them into a building; decides to leave, goes in and out of deli; gets to
Battery Park; they were trying to get Al Simons from Maimonides Hosp on a
boat but I told them not to (was hurt; they were doing it the wrong way);
• Saw Chief McCracken; we were stuck there, btw Tl and water; civilians told
to lay down and cover their heads;
• A bigger boat came and women and children were evacuated onto it;
• A Lutheran ambulance pulled by w/ a patients, loaded Al Simons, and
someone said I've got to get in, ambulance starts to overheat because we're
going so slow; eventually get to Lutheran and treated for breathing etc; went
outside; they were bringing people in periodically from the scene; tries to
locate aide, Mary McMillan; cell phone and pager working; finds out she's ok
and she comes and gets him at the hospital;
SUMMARY OF WTC TASK FORCE INTERVIEW WITH MARY MCMILLAN, AIDE
TO CHIEF GRANT, OCTOBER 12, 2001 (78).

• Responded w/ Chief Grant, car 65 that day, (see #77), got to command post
where met McCracken, at South End and Liberty; directed by Grant to make
list of resources;
• Thought building would fall, tried to tell Grant and McCracken but they were
too busy talking; was formulating plan to run into this glass door building
(WG?) when collapse started; someone was dragging me, I asked him to stop,
he said get in here; eventually things calmed down and went out to find Chief
Grant and McCracken;
• Walking up South End, saw McCracken who told me Chief Grant was in the
store down the block, but couldn't find him; walked around, someone in a
store gave me a mask; walked up and down by the water;
• Ran into Katharine Zarr who said let's set up triage in this building [not
identified] for anyone w/ asthma; Cptn D'Amato looked dazed, like he wasn't
there; asked for his radio to intercept transmission to ask for Chief Grant;
• A boat started coming and they told us to get back in the building because the
other tower was coming down; everyone confused, people w/ children, dogs,
family, [must be in an apt building]; the boats came over and we directed
people to get down, civilians, people from the building, anyone who wanted to
get out;
• Someone drove me on the gator to a much better area where there was like a
park, Chief Villani, Cptn D'Amato were there; then taken to command post at
Ferry Terminal; washed up and went back out looking, back and forth and
eventually hears Chief Grant is ok, goes to get him at hospital.
SUMMARY OF WTC TASK FORCE INTERVIEW WITH FIREFIGHTER MICHAEL
WERNICK, LADDER 9 CHAUFFEUR, OCTOBER 12, 2001, (80).

• Engine 33 went first, about 9,10 mins ahead of us; at 9AM the alarm went in
for us (usually dispatchers wait until 9 because of money / overtime issues);
proceeded on I guess fifth alarm at that point with no indication where to go; I
knew we were going to the WTC; you could see the hole right here on
Lafayette; 1st plane had hit; second hit as we were going down;
• Went down against traffic on Church and I parked the rig right behind St.
Paul's Cemetery; got the guys and walked down Vesey to 1 WTC; dodged
bodies to get in; gathered in lobby; at that point probably got instructions to go
as high as we could climb; [questioned about instructions to unit/Lt but
vague]; not asked to assist a particular unit verbally or by radio;
• Remember that 1 elevator on the main floor was blown out when we got there;
we couldn't use the elevators; don't know if the others were working;
• The stand pipes were not working;
• Had a handy-talkie; just on the regular channel; communications were pretty
bad; never asked to change to a different frequency; stayed on Manhattan
frequency;
• We proceeded up the stairs as a group but got separated in the stairwell and
stopped at different floors;
• Mike Maguire and I stopped at the 12th floor and the 27th floor; that was as
high as we got; took about 20 mins, half hour, to get there; there were lights
on; saw various companies, including 6 Truck; didn't recognize FF's but saw
Cptn Billy Burke;
• Took a rest there for about 5, 10 mins; heard reports from FBI that possibly
more planes were coming in our direction [does not indicate how]; there was a
Battalion Chief, I think from Batt 2;
• At that point, we heard a loud noise and the building shook; thought we got hit
by another plane; indications were really poor at this point'
• Then the chief basically said start filtering down, so we decided to go down
rather than up;
• We went down one stairwell, I think C, and caught up w/ my boss, Lt Smith;
then around the 11th floor stairwell it was clogged up w/ civilians and FF's,
and someone grabbed us and said go down another stairwell;
• It was lucky that we went to another stairwell (B) that was quite empty; we
made it to about the 5th or 6th floor and I saw Lt Desperito (used to be in 9
truck) helping a civilian; saw Engine 5 somewhere along the way, including
Mannie Devalle, Engine 5, around 6th or 7th floor, I think they went onto the
floor; I think we passed 6 Truck; they were in the stairwell w/ civilians as
well, but there were mostly firemen at this point, very few civilians; this
stairwell got crowded around floors 4, 5, or 6, but we were still able to move;
• No urgency though, not like, this thing is coming down; just like filter down
guys and start to get out; do not think anyone around me was aware the
building had collapsed;
r

SUMMARY OF WTC TASK FORCE INTERVIEW WITH FIREFIGHTER MICHAEL

WERNICK, LADDER 9 CHAUFFEUR, OCTOBER 12, 2001, (80).

• Engine 33 went first, about 9,10 mins ahead of us; at 9AM the alarm went in
for us (usually dispatchers wait until 9 because of money / overtime issues);
proceeded on I guess fifth alarm at that point with no indication where to go; I
knew we were going to the WTC; you could see the hole right here on
Lafayette; 1st plane had hit; second hit as we were going down;
• Went down against traffic on Church and I parked the rig right behind St.
Paul's Cemetery; got the guys and walked down Vesey to 1 WTC; dodged
bodies to get in; gathered in lobby; at that point probably got instructions to go
as high as we could climb; [questioned about instructions to unit/Lt but
vague]; not asked to assist a particular unit verbally or by radio;
• Remember that 1 elevator on the main floor was blown out when we got there;
we couldn't use the elevators; don't know if the others were working;
• The stand pipes were not working;
• Had a handy-talkie; just on the regular channel; communications were pretty
bad; never asked to chanRe to a different frequency; stayed on Manhattan
frequency;
• We proceeded up the stairs as a group but got separated in the stairwell and
stopped at different floors;
• Mike Maguire and I stopped at the 12th floor and the 27th floor; that was as
high as we got; took about 20 mins, half hour, to get there; there were lights
on; saw various companies, including 6 Truck; didn't recognize FF's but saw
Cptn Billy Burke;
• Took a rest there for about 5,10 mins; heard reports from FBI that possibly
more planes were coming in our direction [does not indicate how]; there was a
Battalion Chief, I think from Batt 2;
• At that point, we heard a loud noise and the building shook; thought we got hit
by another plane; indications were really poor at this point'
• Then the chief basically said start filtering down, so we decided to go down
rather than up;
• We went down one stairwell, I think C, and caught up w/ my boss, Lt Smith;
then around the 11th floor stairwell it was clogged up w/ civilians and FF's,
and someone grabbed us and said go down another stairwell;
• It was lucky that we went to another stairwell (B) that was quite empty; we
made it to about the 5th or 6th floor and I saw Lt Desperito (used to be in 9
truck) helping a civilian; saw Engine 5 somewhere along the way, including
Mannie Devalle, Engine 5, around 6th or 7th floor, I think they went onto the
floor; I think we passed 6 Truck; they were in the stairwell w/ civilians as
well, but there were mostly firemen at this point, very few civilians; this
stairwell got crowded around floors 4, 5, or 6, but we were still able to move;
• No urgency though, not like, this thing is coming down; just like filter down
guys and start to get out; do not think anyone around me was aware the
building had collapsed;
Made our way down to the lobby which was blown out by debris; still no clue
the building had collapsed; thought it was another plane or partial collapse on
upper firs of our building; had to climb out of the lobby, exited where we
came in, the northwest corner, and about 45 sees out of the building it
collapsed; got blown up the West Side Highway (w/1 think FF Springstead,
FF Casey, Ladder 9, and FF Maguire);
Think I remember seeing FF's Walz and Baptiste in the lobby [not clear if this
is when he came in or when he was getting out, but neither made it out];
Eventually taken to Beth Israel;
r

SUMMARY OF WTC TASK FORCE INTERVIEW WITH FIREFIGHTER MICHAEL

WERNICK, LADDER 9 CHAUFFEUR, OCTOBER 12, 2001, (80).

• Engine 33 went first, about 9, 10 mins ahead of us; at 9AM the alarm went in
for us (usually dispatchers wait until 9 because of money / overtime issues);
proceeded on I guess fifth alarm at that point with no indication where to go; I
knew we were going to the WTC; you could see the hole right here on
Lafayette; 1st plane had hit; second hit as we were going down;
• Went down against traffic on Church and I parked the rig right behind St.
Paul's Cemetery; got the guys and walked down Vesey to 1 WTC; dodged
bodies to get in; gathered in lobby; at that point probably got instructions to go
as high as we could climb; [questioned about instructions to unit/Lt but
vague]; not asked to assist a particular unit verbally or by radio;
• Remember that 1 elevator on the main floor was blown out when we got there;
we couldn't use the elevators; don't know if the others were working;
• The stand pipes were not working;
• Had a handy-talkie; just on the regular channel; communications were pretty
bad; never asked to change to a different frequency; stayed on Manhattan
frequency;
• We proceeded up the stairs as a group but got separated in the stairwell and
stopped at different floors;
• Mike Maguire and I stopped at the 12th floor and the 27th floor; that was as
high as we got; took about 20 mins, half hour, to get there; there were lights
on; saw various companies, including 6 Truck; didn't recognize FF's but saw
Cptn Billy Burke;
• Took a rest there for about 5, 10 mins; heard reports from FBI that possibly
more planes were coming in our direction [does not indicate how]; there was a
Battalion Chief, I think from Batt 2;
• At that point, we heard a loud noise and the building shook; thought we got hit
by another plane; indications were really poor at this point'
• Then the chief basically said start filtering down, so we decided to go down
rather than up;
• We went down one stairwell, I think C, and caught up w/ my boss, Lt Smith;
then around the 11th floor stairwell it was clogged up w/ civilians and FF's,
and someone grabbed us and said go down another stairwell;
• It was lucky that we went to another stairwell (B) that was quite empty; we
made it to about the 5th or 6th floor and I saw Lt Desperito (used to be in 9
truck) helping a civilian; saw Engine 5 somewhere along the way, including
Mannie Devalle, Engine 5, around 6th or 7th floor, I think they went onto the
floor; I think we passed 6 Truck; they were in the stairwell w/ civilians as
well, but there were mostly firemen at this point, very few civilians; this
stairwell got crowded around floors 4, 5, or 6, but we were still able to move;
• No urgency though, not like, this thing is coming down; just like filter down
guys and start to get out; do not think anyone around me was aware the
building had collapsed;
Made our way down to the lobby which was blown out by debris; still no clue
the building had collapsed; thought it was another plane or partial collapse on
upper firs of our building; had to climb out of the lobby, exited where we
came in, the northwest corner, and about 45 sees out of the building it
collapsed; got blown up the West Side Highway (w/1 think FF Springstead,
FF Casey, Ladder 9, and FF Maguire);
Think I remember seeing FF's Walz and Baptiste in the lobby [not clear if this
is when he came in or when he was getting out, but neither made it out];
Eventually taken to Beth Israel;
SUMMARY OF WTC TASK FORCE INTERVIEW WITH LIEUTENANT ROBERT
LAROCCO, LADDER 9, OCTOBER 12, 2001, (81).

• Off-duty, killing time in the city before an appt; on 10th St and 2nd, hear plane
having trouble, then see it flying at about 350 ft; lose sight of it and hear dull
thud; walking north on 2nd when people say it crashed into the WTC; thought
they were just assuming; heard reports on radio and then saw cloud moving
from east to west, determined it couldn't be a rain cloud because it was gray
on top, not bottom, so I jogged to the fire house;
• As I was turning onto Great Jones, I saw Ladder 9 whip out of quarters; I ran
to the house and saw on TV the towers were fire; put on uniform, ran to
Broadway, flagged down a cop car that took me somewhere east of the
towers, probably around Broadway and Dey;
• It was pandemonium, emergency vehicles all over Broadway, people running
around in the streets; made my way towards the towers, didn't realize a
second plane had hit;
• I was most familiar with the South Tower (had much experience covering
WTC), so I figured I'd operate there; I approached from Church, moving west
on Liberty, staying on the far side of the towers looking up; about where 10
and 10 is, got across, up against the south tower;
• [After various obstacles], made my way into the south tower, ran past the fire
command post on the south end w/1 or 2 of the usual fire safety directors
hired by the WTC;
• Ran to the north end where there were 2 escalators going down w/ civilians
self-evacuating;
• At the bottom of the stairs [NE corner] was Chief Burns and his aide; he was
trying to make a handy-talkie transmission or listen to one; when he was
finished I told him who I was, at your service, what do you need sir?; he said
Lt, I need company men here ASAP, I said, yes sir;
• I ran back to the south end of the south tower but stayed inside the doorway
w/ it open; yelled to units going west to east on Liberty but it's like they didn't
hear anything, they were just on their mission;
• Noticed there was an arc foot path about so I used it for cover to cross Liberty;
ran into Rescue 4 w/ Lt Kevin Dowdell and told him Chief Burns needed a
company ASAP north end of the south tower, but he had orders to go to the
west command post;
• There were no other units around on Liberty due to stuff falling down;
• Went back in the tower and saw Chief Burns was surrounded by units
[apparently in a different location now]; there was no way to get to the area
where he was [up somewhere] because of people streaming down those
elevators, so I made my way around into the Marriott;
• There was a command post there w/ Chief Galvin; after a couple of minutes,
Chief Cassano showed up; units were reporting in one after another; Cassano
gave me a stand fast signal; was able to call my wife from a pay phone (lied
and said was assigned to a firs aid station 3 blocks away);
Went back to the command post [unclear, but appears to say later that, as of
now, he is back in the South Tower; has come back in through interior]; units
reporting in one after another; one unit I remember was Ladder 11, Mike
Quilty, he got his orders and took his men upstairs [they all die]; units were
coming in fast and orders being barked out fast; getting sent up all different
staircases and making their way as best they could;
Billy Spade comes in and asks if I knew where Rescue 5; I didn't;
Forget about getting a transmission over the handy-talky, there were so many
units, so much traffic on it, it was like useless;
Billy and I teamed up and made our way north on the first floor where there
was another command post; there I saw Chief Hayden and some units
standing fast; we went to the second floor and found the staircase on the
northwest side of the building; people were evacuating down the stairway and
water was streaming down; that tells me the plane took out the standpipe in
that stairway;
Billy and I went up a few floors; we separated ourselves by 2 floors, basically
just to be a fire dept presence, calm people down, reassure them they're
almost at the bottom; asked people what floors they were from; 51, then 63,
eventually 88 and 89;
Some ESU cops were going up w/just Scott packs, no turnout gear etc; one
pulled me aside and told me about the Pentagon, so I knew it was a terrorist
attack;
There were people coming down from 89 dragging a woman, they said she
had a heart attack; told them to put her down, then got Billy and we carried
her down; at about the second floor, 3 PA cops said they would take her; she
was kind of heavy so we were happy to put her down, but then we noticed the
cops weren't doing anything, she was just laying there; I asked the Sergeant if
he radio'd for oxygen, he had a handy talky on; he just kind of shrugged; I
said, let's pick her up etc, so one of the cops and I carried her across the north
end of the south tower from the west side to the east side, and we got to those
escalators that Chief Burns was operating at the bottom of earlier; they were
stationery;
Just as I put my foot on the first stair, the building started shaking, like a wave
in the floor and a real loud noise; we ran from the east northeast end of the
building toward the west; along my right side is the north wall and it's glass;
Wasn't aware there was a full collapse, thought it might have been a localized
collapse; loudest noise I ever heard, then even louder every second;
I was running as fast as I could and whatever light we had was becoming
darkness; when I knew I was overtaken, threw myself on my knees at the next
concrete column and started getting buried;
It started to terminate in about 30 seconds; determined that I was alive, put my
face inside my shirt and could not see anything, total blackness, as if I was
buried in my coffin w/ six feet of dirt throw on top; dug myself out of this pile
of dust, put on a tuberculosis mask, and crawled west along north wall to find
a doorway I knew of, didn't work to kick through plate glass;
Heard some people moaning but figured I would not get out if I stopped to
help them and would get them help from the outside;
Eventually reach doorway, chocked it open w/ my the chock from my helmet,
and called to people to follow my voice; no one came but heard later that a
guy said he got out because he heard this;
Turned and started crawling out the door [apparently interior door because
still inside]; knew I had to find these 6 elevators and from there the escalator
that could take me down to the first level and from there try to get out; found
the elevators and stairs down, but realized I was in an area I was unfamiliar
with, like a service area; found some steps, went down into a small lobby and
found a door w/ push bars, got it open about 2 or 3 inches, could see the
sunlight; was able to look out the door and see that everything had collapsed;
there was stuff blocking the door but I pushed it for my life and was able to
exit through about 10 inches;
I was on the north side of the building; walked up about a block; ran into Phil
Scarfi, the chauffeur from 235, hooked up to a hydrant; he helped me wash off
and asked me what to do (everyone from 235 was wiped out); he had gear so I
said, get your gear, we'll try reporting to a command post; do rescues; knew
things were bad but hadn't realized the whole south tower had collapsed;
Made our way to Vesey and West; I stood on the west side of West St facing
south, looking for the command post and it wasn't there; it was
pandemonium; policemen, firemen, civilians running around, no real
direction;
Taking this all in, hearing was bad, everything was crystal clear but seemed in
slow motion; then 3 guys start running towards me; an Arab-looking
American guy chased by 2 guys yelling "stop, stop, FBI, FBI", one of them
was a tall white guy w/ a long-sleeved white shirt and tie on; just as the Arab
guy passes me, the so-called FBI guys throw him on the floor and cuffs him;
Then I heard that loudest noise in the world again; made a 180 and started
running north up the west side of West St; a lot of guys dove underneath rigs,
but I figured the tower was coming down and wanted to keep moving; wanted
to get to the rear of this 3rd rig and hug the back, but my legs kept going to the
4th rig, Ladder 118, a tractor-trailer, (it turned out the 3rd rig was crushed by a
concrete column); put my face inside my shirt again, heard people around me,
crying etc, and ordered them to do the same; eventually they stopped crying
and whimpering and I told them we'd stay there until we got visibility and
move away together; they were all ok;
Helped people north up West St, more and more visibility as we walked up;
run into Mike McGuire from Ladder 9, doesn't know where his guys are; tell
him to stay w/ me; then ran into Lt Smith from Ladder 9, doing the day tour,
Donald Casey and Bert Stringstead, L9; the Lt was missing some guys, I went
to go find them but can't find them [missing ones were dead]; [then bathes in
a fire hydrant and runs into some other guys;]
Went back to West St, no real direction for a concerted rescue effort; still
didn't know/believe a second plane had hit the second tower until I saw it then
on TV.