1 00:00:23,099 --> 00:00:26,269 I was never so proud to be a fireman as I was that day. 2 00:00:31,441 --> 00:00:34,377 Our orders were to go upstairs in the North Tower 3 00:00:34,377 --> 00:00:36,746 for a search and rescue. 4 00:00:36,947 --> 00:00:40,283 So, we were going to pull as many people out as we could, 5 00:00:40,283 --> 00:00:42,419 that's what we were gonna do. 6 00:00:46,623 --> 00:00:50,994 And we got to the 27th floor when we felt and experienced 7 00:00:50,994 --> 00:00:54,431 something that nobody had ever felt or experienced before. 8 00:00:54,431 --> 00:00:59,669 We heard a loud noise outside, our building shook violently, 9 00:00:59,669 --> 00:01:03,173 so violent that, that you had a hard time standing up, 10 00:01:03,173 --> 00:01:05,942 you know, it was like you were on a ship at sea; 11 00:01:05,942 --> 00:01:08,945 the South Tower had collapsed. 12 00:01:09,713 --> 00:01:15,619 And, in my mind, this was the scariest part of the day for me. 13 00:01:17,287 --> 00:01:19,322 I knew prior to this day a high rise building had never 14 00:01:19,322 --> 00:01:22,759 collapsed after a fire, and now the sister building 15 00:01:22,759 --> 00:01:24,561 to the one I was in, 16 00:01:24,561 --> 00:01:27,998 that got hit after my building, was down. 17 00:01:28,965 --> 00:01:31,201 I did the quick calculations in my mind and I says, 18 00:01:31,201 --> 00:01:33,903 alright, if that one can go, this one can go, 19 00:01:33,903 --> 00:01:37,040 it's time for us to get outta here. 20 00:01:37,040 --> 00:01:41,511 So, we start our retreat down the B stairway of the North Tower. 21 00:01:44,080 --> 00:01:47,517 We got to around the 20th floor and there was a woman 22 00:01:47,517 --> 00:01:50,754 standing in a doorway, she was crying, 23 00:01:51,354 --> 00:01:53,923 and my guy stopped and Tommy Falco, 24 00:01:53,923 --> 00:01:56,393 one of my firemen, turns around and looks at me, 25 00:01:56,393 --> 00:02:00,330 he says, "Hey Captain, what'd you wanna do with her?" 26 00:02:00,330 --> 00:02:02,298 And she literally couldn't walk anymore, 27 00:02:02,298 --> 00:02:04,267 she'd made it down from the 70s, 28 00:02:04,267 --> 00:02:07,070 I think the 73rd floor. 29 00:02:07,070 --> 00:02:08,271 We didn't know it at the time, 30 00:02:08,271 --> 00:02:10,907 she was one week shy of her 60th birthday, 31 00:02:10,907 --> 00:02:16,179 so we continued our evacuation with Josephine Harris in tow. 32 00:02:18,014 --> 00:02:22,052 We were carrying her down the stairs, slowly. 33 00:02:22,052 --> 00:02:24,354 We were going so slowly that a couple of times we had to step 34 00:02:24,354 --> 00:02:27,323 aside because we created a log‐jam of people behind us, 35 00:02:27,323 --> 00:02:29,592 so we had to let them pass. 36 00:02:29,592 --> 00:02:31,695 And made it to the tenth floor, 37 00:02:31,695 --> 00:02:34,931 I'm thinking, wow, we might actually get outta here. 38 00:02:34,931 --> 00:02:38,935 And then Josephine Harris fell to the floor on the fourth floor. 39 00:02:40,303 --> 00:02:43,640 And she starts yelling at us to leave her. 40 00:02:43,640 --> 00:02:47,310 And, uh, the collapse of the North Tower starts 41 00:02:47,310 --> 00:02:49,913 with us still inside. 42 00:04:08,291 --> 00:04:09,993 Let's get in here! 43 00:04:09,993 --> 00:04:12,262 Get away from the glass. 44 00:04:12,262 --> 00:04:13,730 Oh my is out there. 45 00:04:13,730 --> 00:04:14,798 My is out there. 46 00:04:14,798 --> 00:04:17,801 You wanna die? Don't worry about it. 47 00:04:17,801 --> 00:04:19,035 The whole building. 48 00:04:19,035 --> 00:04:20,403 Watch the debris come down the street. 49 00:04:20,403 --> 00:04:21,771 Don't open the door, please. 50 00:04:21,771 --> 00:04:23,940 Get away from the windows. 51 00:04:27,443 --> 00:04:29,979 Oh my God. 52 00:04:29,979 --> 00:04:31,214 Look at the shadow of death! 53 00:04:31,214 --> 00:04:34,350 Oh my God! 54 00:04:34,350 --> 00:04:37,086 You're right, oh my God, you saved my life! 55 00:04:37,086 --> 00:04:38,188 You saved my life! 56 00:04:38,188 --> 00:04:40,089 Thank you! Thank you! 57 00:04:40,089 --> 00:04:42,091 Thank you. Thank you. 58 00:04:43,993 --> 00:04:47,063 Thank you, thank you! 59 00:04:47,831 --> 00:04:52,168 Oh my God! Thank you. 60 00:04:52,168 --> 00:04:54,437 Thank you. Thank you. 61 00:05:36,479 --> 00:05:39,749 I remember looking up into the dust. 62 00:05:41,184 --> 00:05:45,588 And I remember thinking to myself I'm the last person 63 00:05:45,588 --> 00:05:47,423 left on the planet. 64 00:05:47,423 --> 00:05:48,625 I don't hear anybody. 65 00:05:48,625 --> 00:05:49,792 I don't see anybody. 66 00:05:49,792 --> 00:05:51,828 I am completely alone. 67 00:05:51,828 --> 00:05:55,965 I am this huge feeling of being empty. 68 00:05:59,569 --> 00:06:02,906 As I'm looking around there's cars that are destroyed. 69 00:06:02,906 --> 00:06:05,842 There was an ambulance on fire. 70 00:06:08,778 --> 00:06:11,147 I really thought this was it, this was the end, 71 00:06:11,147 --> 00:06:13,850 this was the end of the world, this was the Armageddon. 72 00:06:20,924 --> 00:06:23,726 So I remember grabbing a hose line that was laying on the 73 00:06:23,726 --> 00:06:26,262 floor and I actually put out the fire in the ambulance. 74 00:06:36,406 --> 00:06:39,309 And the dust started to lift. 75 00:06:48,818 --> 00:06:52,055 I, I couldn't believe what I was actually seeing. 76 00:06:59,329 --> 00:07:02,565 Both buildings were gone. 77 00:07:09,138 --> 00:07:13,376 And now it's just seven story pile of debris and garbage and 78 00:07:13,376 --> 00:07:16,646 there were people in there. 79 00:07:19,515 --> 00:07:21,017 And I'm thinking to myself there's no way that we're 80 00:07:21,017 --> 00:07:24,721 gonna find people that survived this collapse. 81 00:07:55,184 --> 00:07:59,222 The collapse started from the top down. 82 00:08:00,289 --> 00:08:03,793 And every time a floor would hit another floor, 83 00:08:03,793 --> 00:08:05,661 collapsing what we call, pancake fashion, 84 00:08:05,661 --> 00:08:09,265 it would create a loud noise, a loud boom, 85 00:08:09,265 --> 00:08:11,534 so it was boom, boom, boom, boom. 86 00:08:11,534 --> 00:08:14,170 And every time a floor would hit another floor there'd be a 87 00:08:14,170 --> 00:08:16,539 tremendous vibration in the building. 88 00:08:16,539 --> 00:08:19,275 Whatever air was in the stairway was being compressed 89 00:08:19,275 --> 00:08:22,311 and it was filled with debris, so we were getting pummeled 90 00:08:22,311 --> 00:08:28,117 with debris as we were covering up and, uh, we just 91 00:08:28,117 --> 00:08:30,720 waited for that big beam or that big piece of concrete to 92 00:08:30,720 --> 00:08:33,289 come and get us. 93 00:08:33,623 --> 00:08:36,392 And then the collapsed stopped and it didn't come. 94 00:08:36,859 --> 00:08:41,998 And, uh, so I gave a shout out, I said, 95 00:08:41,998 --> 00:08:44,467 "Who's still here? Who do I hear? 96 00:08:44,467 --> 00:08:45,902 Who do I have?" 97 00:08:45,902 --> 00:08:49,038 Turns out all my guys from Ladder 6, 98 00:08:49,439 --> 00:08:55,912 Tommy Falco, Sal D'Agostino, Billy Butler and Mike Meldrom, 99 00:08:55,912 --> 00:08:59,782 we had Mickey Kross, who was a Lieutenant in Engine 16. 100 00:09:03,920 --> 00:09:05,488 I think it took about eight seconds for 101 00:09:05,488 --> 00:09:08,024 the building to come down. 102 00:09:08,024 --> 00:09:10,426 It was a tremendous noise and tremendous raw, 103 00:09:10,426 --> 00:09:15,064 tremendous vibrating and within a few seconds 104 00:09:15,064 --> 00:09:20,103 it was over, and it went to total, absolute silence, 105 00:09:21,070 --> 00:09:25,108 no more shaking, absolutely no noise. 106 00:09:25,108 --> 00:09:27,009 Having no experience being dead, 107 00:09:27,009 --> 00:09:29,645 you don't know what it's like, so I thought I could possibly 108 00:09:29,645 --> 00:09:30,746 be dead 'cause I couldn't feel, 109 00:09:30,746 --> 00:09:33,516 I couldn't feel my body, I couldn't feel anything. 110 00:09:33,516 --> 00:09:38,187 And after a few seconds I heard talking so, 111 00:09:38,187 --> 00:09:40,756 I yelled out and we all got together. 112 00:09:40,756 --> 00:09:42,959 It was between the third, I think, 113 00:09:42,959 --> 00:09:46,863 between the third and fourth floors was still in tact. 114 00:09:47,763 --> 00:09:50,366 We were in a void. 115 00:09:50,366 --> 00:09:53,002 You know, it was the fact that Josephine stopped there, 116 00:09:53,002 --> 00:09:56,472 you know, there weren't many voids in that building, 117 00:09:56,472 --> 00:10:00,243 and we found a void because even if you made 118 00:10:00,243 --> 00:10:02,912 it to the ground floor, you didn't make it. 119 00:10:02,912 --> 00:10:04,580 If you made it just outside the building, 120 00:10:04,580 --> 00:10:07,216 you didn't make it. 121 00:10:07,817 --> 00:10:10,653 We looked around for a way out. 122 00:10:10,653 --> 00:10:14,290 A couple of guys had tools and they were forcing what was 123 00:10:14,290 --> 00:10:18,828 left of the stairway door, and they opened it and it was just 124 00:10:18,828 --> 00:10:23,032 a wall of debris so, we realized there wasn't 125 00:10:23,032 --> 00:10:25,067 a thing we could do. 126 00:10:25,067 --> 00:10:27,069 We're not getting outta this. 127 00:10:27,069 --> 00:10:29,205 There's no up, down, to the side, no way. 128 00:10:29,205 --> 00:10:34,410 The only way we're gonna get out if somebody comes and gets us. 129 00:10:51,928 --> 00:10:53,829 FIREFIGHTER We're gonna regroup on Murray Street. 130 00:10:53,829 --> 00:10:55,998 Does anybody have Al Tori with them? 131 00:11:07,076 --> 00:11:09,312 Jesus Christ. 132 00:11:18,854 --> 00:11:20,656 Right after the collapse, 133 00:11:20,656 --> 00:11:23,492 miraculously we regrouped with everybody in the company. 134 00:11:25,361 --> 00:11:30,099 We realized that, um, we possibly could be like, 135 00:11:30,099 --> 00:11:33,469 one of the last companies that kinda made it outta that area. 136 00:11:34,604 --> 00:11:35,871 Your gonna upload it? 137 00:11:35,871 --> 00:11:37,006 Yeah. 138 00:11:37,006 --> 00:11:39,175 Here, take a white rag. You need a white rag? 139 00:11:39,175 --> 00:11:42,678 And before it collapsed we were 140 00:11:42,678 --> 00:11:46,882 coming down the B stairwell in the North Tower, 141 00:11:46,882 --> 00:11:50,319 and, um, I remember speaking to, uh, Captain Jonas, 142 00:11:50,319 --> 00:11:52,955 who was Captain of Six Truck. 143 00:11:54,423 --> 00:11:57,760 So then it was, "Well, where is Six Truck?" 144 00:11:59,629 --> 00:12:02,932 They were at least three to four floors above us. 145 00:12:03,232 --> 00:12:05,334 FIREFIGHTER 247, 246. 146 00:12:05,835 --> 00:12:06,869 Where are the guys? 147 00:12:06,869 --> 00:12:09,672 I have no idea. 148 00:12:10,439 --> 00:12:12,174 So, we were like, oh man, 149 00:12:12,174 --> 00:12:15,044 gotta try to get back in there and try to find them. 150 00:12:15,544 --> 00:12:17,013 You know where he is? 151 00:12:18,247 --> 00:12:21,951 And then we went to go make our way back in. 152 00:12:22,885 --> 00:12:26,856 But, that area that we just came from wasn't there anymore. 153 00:12:31,560 --> 00:12:34,096 I'm on channel one. 154 00:12:41,337 --> 00:12:44,106 Everything was like completely destroyed. 155 00:12:47,810 --> 00:12:49,145 It tore a part of my heart out, 156 00:12:49,145 --> 00:12:52,782 like, you just feel like you got ripped on the insides. 157 00:12:55,751 --> 00:13:00,556 And you have this feeling of helplessness because 158 00:13:00,556 --> 00:13:03,626 you don't know where to start. 159 00:13:18,641 --> 00:13:20,543 REPORTER Live, continuing coverage here on 1010 Wins, 160 00:13:20,543 --> 00:13:22,678 the horrible tragedy of the World Trade Center. 161 00:13:22,678 --> 00:13:25,648 How off it looked to see those two twin towers, 162 00:13:25,648 --> 00:13:28,050 so much a part of our landscape, disappear. 163 00:13:28,050 --> 00:13:30,086 But then now to keep in mind there were people inside those 164 00:13:30,086 --> 00:13:32,021 buildings and many did not get out. 165 00:13:32,021 --> 00:13:33,155 When you have something like this you think, 166 00:13:33,155 --> 00:13:34,724 well, death toll and casualties, 167 00:13:34,724 --> 00:13:36,859 that's something we simply don't know because in many 168 00:13:36,859 --> 00:13:39,962 respects the rescue effort is really just getting started. 169 00:13:39,962 --> 00:13:42,098 1010 Wins reporter... 170 00:13:51,674 --> 00:13:54,944 We were planning for the worst, 171 00:13:54,944 --> 00:13:58,180 planning for a long entrapment, 172 00:13:59,215 --> 00:14:03,986 maybe a couple of days, try to conserve our radio batteries, 173 00:14:03,986 --> 00:14:06,188 our flashlight batteries. 174 00:14:06,188 --> 00:14:12,561 I didn't want my guys to use their air masks but during 175 00:14:12,561 --> 00:14:17,666 that time received a mayday from Mark Warcola 176 00:14:18,734 --> 00:14:24,707 the Lieutenant from Ladder Five that we had seen on the way down, 177 00:14:25,274 --> 00:14:28,411 and he said he was in the, 178 00:14:28,411 --> 00:14:33,549 the B stairway on the 12th floor 179 00:14:33,549 --> 00:14:35,918 he was trapped and he was hurt bad. 180 00:14:35,918 --> 00:14:37,953 So Sal D'Agostino turned around and looked at me, 181 00:14:37,953 --> 00:14:39,755 he says, "Hey Cap, did you get that?" 182 00:14:39,755 --> 00:14:41,590 I said, "Yeah, I got it." 183 00:14:41,590 --> 00:14:43,592 And I started climbing the B stairway. 184 00:14:43,592 --> 00:14:47,897 And the stairways there is filled with rubble, 185 00:14:47,897 --> 00:14:51,834 it was like a real bad vacant building stairway but it was there. 186 00:14:52,368 --> 00:14:57,339 So, I could climb up the bannister and maneuver my way around. 187 00:14:58,307 --> 00:15:02,778 And then a second mayday came in when I was on the fifth floor for him. 188 00:15:02,778 --> 00:15:05,748 And again, I'm trying to maneuver my way around. 189 00:15:05,748 --> 00:15:08,117 And I got to the half landing between the fifth and the 190 00:15:08,117 --> 00:15:11,187 sixth floor and I couldn't move the debris anymore; 191 00:15:11,187 --> 00:15:13,355 it was too heavy. 192 00:15:13,355 --> 00:15:17,626 And he gave a third mayday which was more distraught and 193 00:15:17,626 --> 00:15:22,832 I just said, "Sorry, Mike, I can't help you." 194 00:15:27,470 --> 00:15:30,606 It was terrible. 195 00:15:31,340 --> 00:15:34,577 Here's somebody we know and he's calling for our help and 196 00:15:34,577 --> 00:15:37,112 we can't help him. 197 00:15:37,112 --> 00:15:39,648 You know, we couldn't get to him. 198 00:15:42,017 --> 00:15:44,487 And then we didn't hear from him anymore. 199 00:15:49,592 --> 00:15:52,595 Yeah, finally I transmitted my own mayday. 200 00:16:00,336 --> 00:16:02,104 FIREFIGHTER Go on with the mayday, go ahead. 201 00:16:32,801 --> 00:16:34,436 MAN Okay, 10‐4. 202 00:16:36,839 --> 00:16:41,310 When we kinda all heard them on the radio, 203 00:16:41,310 --> 00:16:43,812 I remember myself, personally, I kinda just dropped down onto 204 00:16:43,812 --> 00:16:47,082 one knee and kissed the metal that was around my neck. 205 00:16:47,550 --> 00:16:50,286 It was a feeling of elation that, 206 00:16:50,286 --> 00:16:53,789 okay, there's a chance here. 207 00:16:56,992 --> 00:17:01,230 I started getting radio transmissions from other guys 208 00:17:01,230 --> 00:17:05,034 that I knew, some of them were some of my best friends. 209 00:17:10,005 --> 00:17:13,509 A very close friend of mine was Nick Visconti. 210 00:17:19,214 --> 00:17:23,886 And he got put in charge 211 00:17:23,886 --> 00:17:27,189 of the rescue effort to find us 212 00:17:27,189 --> 00:17:33,796 and I talked to him on the radio and, uh... 213 00:17:37,866 --> 00:17:42,071 it was great hearing his voice. 214 00:17:54,516 --> 00:17:56,085 Ladder 6. 215 00:17:56,085 --> 00:17:57,653 Tower one. 216 00:17:57,653 --> 00:18:01,890 Stairwell B. There's also a wounded civilian and chief on the first floor. 217 00:18:07,997 --> 00:18:13,102 It's the love of your fellow firemen 218 00:18:14,436 --> 00:18:16,905 coming to save you. 219 00:18:17,673 --> 00:18:21,377 I thought to myself, you know, there's gotta be people who 220 00:18:21,377 --> 00:18:24,880 are much worse off than I am. 221 00:18:24,880 --> 00:18:27,516 I'm not worthy of this. 222 00:18:27,516 --> 00:18:30,986 But I had this army of firefighters coming to find me. 223 00:18:31,887 --> 00:18:35,391 And it was humbling. 224 00:18:43,499 --> 00:18:45,334 Take any gear we can carry, 225 00:18:45,334 --> 00:18:47,903 especially First Aid stuff. 226 00:18:50,139 --> 00:18:53,375 Then I heard from my neighbor, Cliff Staffner, 227 00:18:53,809 --> 00:18:55,978 "Rescue Three to Ladder Six, Captain J. Jonas, 228 00:18:55,978 --> 00:18:58,914 this is Cliff, I'm coming to get ya, where are ya?" 229 00:18:59,181 --> 00:19:00,783 And I tell him. 230 00:19:00,783 --> 00:19:03,519 And he would end every transmission by saying, 231 00:19:03,519 --> 00:19:06,155 "I'm coming for ya, brother, I'm coming for ya." 232 00:19:10,025 --> 00:19:10,993 STAFFNER We're coming for ya, brother, 233 00:19:10,993 --> 00:19:12,761 we're coming for ya. 234 00:19:17,700 --> 00:19:19,201 FIREFIGHTER Liberty, we have your command post. 235 00:19:19,201 --> 00:19:20,135 FIREFIGHTER Go ahead. 236 00:19:29,244 --> 00:19:31,180 REPORTER This is still very much an active scene right now. 237 00:19:31,180 --> 00:19:33,649 I've seen dozens upon dozens of firefighters getting to the 238 00:19:33,649 --> 00:19:35,417 World Trade Center area. 239 00:19:35,417 --> 00:19:38,454 They're trying to get together and go back in there and try 240 00:19:38,454 --> 00:19:42,357 to take care of the people who obviously are in serious trouble. 241 00:19:42,357 --> 00:19:44,026 There's no other way to describe it. 242 00:19:44,827 --> 00:19:46,061 Did you already go in? 243 00:19:46,061 --> 00:19:47,496 What? Did you go in? 244 00:19:47,496 --> 00:19:49,198 I was there, yeah. 245 00:19:49,198 --> 00:19:50,966 Are you going back? 246 00:19:50,966 --> 00:19:53,135 It's my job. 247 00:19:59,742 --> 00:20:02,644 New York City firefighters have this special bond. 248 00:20:08,083 --> 00:20:12,521 This level of being, of belonging. 249 00:20:13,088 --> 00:20:15,824 We become a second family. 250 00:20:16,959 --> 00:20:20,596 No matter what happens, if you feel threatened, 251 00:20:20,596 --> 00:20:24,666 if you feel afraid in a fire, these guys will tear down the 252 00:20:24,666 --> 00:20:26,101 building to get to you. 253 00:20:26,101 --> 00:20:28,904 They will do everything in their power to get to you. 254 00:20:30,839 --> 00:20:33,308 We don't leave a brother behind. 255 00:20:52,394 --> 00:20:54,029 Oh my God, I've never seen anything like this 256 00:20:54,029 --> 00:20:56,665 in my entire life. 257 00:21:00,335 --> 00:21:04,339 There's debris for miles, blocks. 258 00:21:08,310 --> 00:21:09,411 There could be people under here, 259 00:21:09,411 --> 00:21:11,613 but again, this was a plaza... 260 00:21:15,551 --> 00:21:18,554 We were gonna try to advance into this debris field 261 00:21:18,554 --> 00:21:20,722 trying to locate Ladder Six. 262 00:21:20,722 --> 00:21:22,891 It's the top of the building. 263 00:21:23,325 --> 00:21:25,761 And when we got there it was just... 264 00:21:25,761 --> 00:21:27,596 there was, there was no way to get through it, 265 00:21:27,596 --> 00:21:31,266 it was just solid concrete, rebar and steel. 266 00:21:41,009 --> 00:21:43,011 On top of that, while we were in there, 267 00:21:43,011 --> 00:21:45,480 stuff was starting to collapse again. 268 00:21:51,720 --> 00:21:52,788 MAN Come back! Come back. 269 00:21:52,788 --> 00:21:54,756 Get everybody out. 270 00:22:00,929 --> 00:22:02,664 You know, these piles were unstable and as you're 271 00:22:02,664 --> 00:22:06,301 going into them now they're still starting to like, 272 00:22:06,301 --> 00:22:09,204 have secondary and third collapses on these piles. 273 00:22:09,638 --> 00:22:12,708 It was almost like standing in the ocean. 274 00:22:26,989 --> 00:22:30,225 Initially, we were really optimistic. 275 00:22:31,960 --> 00:22:36,398 But now we had this greater sense of how are we gonna find them? 276 00:22:53,081 --> 00:22:55,951 Everybody was scared because we could hear fires 277 00:22:55,951 --> 00:22:58,320 crackling outside. 278 00:22:58,320 --> 00:23:04,559 And at one point, 279 00:23:04,559 --> 00:23:08,096 there was an explosion nearby, 280 00:23:08,096 --> 00:23:12,100 and um, it shook the stairway 281 00:23:12,100 --> 00:23:13,969 and it caused some debris to fall and 282 00:23:13,969 --> 00:23:17,606 it was striking us. 283 00:23:18,774 --> 00:23:21,276 And Josephine, you know, started crying out that 284 00:23:21,276 --> 00:23:22,511 she was scared. 285 00:23:22,511 --> 00:23:23,979 And I said, "Yeah, we're all a little scared, 286 00:23:23,979 --> 00:23:25,948 darling, hang in there." 287 00:23:25,948 --> 00:23:30,152 But when that happened, 288 00:23:31,453 --> 00:23:33,755 Mike Meldrom, my senior guy, 289 00:23:33,755 --> 00:23:39,795 my chauffeur, he rolled his body on top of hers 290 00:23:39,795 --> 00:23:43,332 so she wasn't being hit by any debris. 291 00:23:45,200 --> 00:23:50,505 And Sal D'Agostino took his coat off and put it around her. 292 00:24:02,184 --> 00:24:05,721 And they told her nothing's going to happen to you. 293 00:24:07,122 --> 00:24:10,392 As long as we're here, nothing's going to happen to you. 294 00:24:12,160 --> 00:24:15,831 And they took turns talking to her, 295 00:24:15,831 --> 00:24:20,102 trying to keep her mind off what was an impossible situation for us, 296 00:24:20,102 --> 00:24:23,672 it's definitely an impossible situation for her. 297 00:24:24,606 --> 00:24:29,077 Without orders from me, they did it on their own, 298 00:24:29,077 --> 00:24:32,647 they took care of this woman. 299 00:24:36,651 --> 00:24:40,655 The situation was getting really bad. 300 00:24:41,189 --> 00:24:45,827 And then after about three, maybe two and half to three hours, 301 00:24:45,827 --> 00:24:47,829 I'm not sure, I started, 302 00:24:47,829 --> 00:24:50,966 I was looking up and I saw like a flicker of light. 303 00:24:56,271 --> 00:25:00,142 And then it went out. 304 00:25:00,142 --> 00:25:03,211 And then it flickered up again. 305 00:25:04,780 --> 00:25:06,748 And I'm looking and I'm trying to figure out what it is. 306 00:25:06,748 --> 00:25:09,017 At first I thought it was an emergency light that was 307 00:25:09,017 --> 00:25:12,120 hooked up and flickering on and off. 308 00:25:13,121 --> 00:25:19,795 And then in a couple of minutes the light lit up and 309 00:25:19,795 --> 00:25:22,330 I was, it was the sun. 310 00:25:27,402 --> 00:25:30,572 And it came in, a beam of sun came in, 311 00:25:30,572 --> 00:25:34,009 and it was like something from God. 312 00:25:34,943 --> 00:25:37,379 It was like from heaven. 313 00:25:38,080 --> 00:25:41,016 You know, that meant an opening above us. 314 00:26:11,179 --> 00:26:12,581 What was happening was the smoke and dust 315 00:26:12,581 --> 00:26:15,750 was clearing outside. 316 00:26:17,219 --> 00:26:22,591 And we got to the point where all of a sudden you could look up 317 00:26:22,591 --> 00:26:27,195 and I could see a sliver of blue sky through the rubble. 318 00:26:29,364 --> 00:26:34,603 And I looked down and I could see a beam of light striking 319 00:26:34,603 --> 00:26:40,041 the stairway and I'm like, 320 00:26:41,543 --> 00:26:47,082 "Guys, there used to be 106 floors over our heads, 321 00:26:48,817 --> 00:26:50,418 now I see blue sky." 322 00:26:50,418 --> 00:26:53,555 And I said, "I think we're on top of the World Trade Center." 323 00:26:57,325 --> 00:27:00,495 So, you know, we started poking around. 324 00:27:02,164 --> 00:27:06,668 You know, with this added light we were able to find an 325 00:27:06,668 --> 00:27:10,438 area where we could breach a hole through the rubble. 326 00:27:13,408 --> 00:27:16,811 When the dust cleared away and we knew 327 00:27:16,811 --> 00:27:20,515 we had an opening, we had to climb to it, 328 00:27:20,515 --> 00:27:22,117 it was 20 feet above us. 329 00:27:22,117 --> 00:27:25,253 So, you know, there was all criss‐cross, 330 00:27:25,253 --> 00:27:30,692 bent up beams inside the area so, 331 00:27:30,692 --> 00:27:34,629 those of us who were physically able were able to 332 00:27:34,629 --> 00:27:37,899 climb up and get to that opening and actually 333 00:27:37,899 --> 00:27:40,235 wiggle our way out. 334 00:28:07,229 --> 00:28:08,897 And I poked my head out and I couldn't believe 335 00:28:08,897 --> 00:28:11,666 what I was seeing. 336 00:28:12,834 --> 00:28:18,740 You know, you see the façade of what's left of the World Trade Center, 337 00:28:19,541 --> 00:28:24,813 and there's flame and smoke coming up from everywhere, 338 00:28:24,813 --> 00:28:26,114 numbers four, five, six 339 00:28:26,114 --> 00:28:27,582 World Trade Center on fire, 340 00:28:27,582 --> 00:28:30,118 there's like seven story buildings. 341 00:28:30,118 --> 00:28:32,821 Number Seven World Trade Center is a 342 00:28:32,821 --> 00:28:36,258 high rise office building and it's on fire. 343 00:28:38,126 --> 00:28:41,463 It was very eerie sticking your head out and especially 344 00:28:41,463 --> 00:28:45,567 seeing the iconic façade of the World Trade Center, 345 00:28:45,567 --> 00:28:49,304 the arches. 346 00:28:50,105 --> 00:28:53,174 And there was nothing left of it. 347 00:29:00,649 --> 00:29:04,386 We waited until we could see a fireman, 348 00:29:04,386 --> 00:29:06,721 we saw a fireman off in the distance, 349 00:29:06,721 --> 00:29:09,190 and we were to make contact with them. 350 00:29:11,326 --> 00:29:14,062 FIREFIGHTER What's the name of the street that is on? 351 00:29:16,197 --> 00:29:17,365 Thank you. 352 00:29:17,365 --> 00:29:19,934 And they made their way to the stairway. 353 00:29:28,576 --> 00:29:33,882 Got Josephine Harris, Engine 53 and Ladder 43 got her out. 354 00:29:33,882 --> 00:29:36,518 They brought the stokes basket stretcher up. 355 00:29:36,518 --> 00:29:39,554 It's almost like she took a stand, 356 00:29:39,554 --> 00:29:41,289 like on the fourth floor, like, 357 00:29:41,289 --> 00:29:43,792 somehow she knew. 358 00:29:45,226 --> 00:29:48,229 that we have to be here, this is the spot. 359 00:29:52,834 --> 00:29:56,838 One by one I was sending everybody in the stairway out. 360 00:29:57,739 --> 00:30:02,644 And one by one I saw every one of my guys climb the rope and 361 00:30:02,644 --> 00:30:06,648 that was a very satisfying part of the day for me to see that. 362 00:30:07,315 --> 00:30:09,517 It was a wonderful feeling. 363 00:30:09,517 --> 00:30:12,287 I don't have to explain that. 364 00:30:13,888 --> 00:30:15,824 You think you might die in that hole and then all of a 365 00:30:15,824 --> 00:30:18,560 sudden you're outside and somebody's giving you a 366 00:30:18,560 --> 00:30:20,128 sandwich and a soda. 367 00:30:20,128 --> 00:30:22,130 It's a pretty nice feeling, right. 368 00:31:22,257 --> 00:31:23,792 We were the last people to come out 369 00:31:23,792 --> 00:31:25,794 before Tower One fell. 370 00:31:27,228 --> 00:31:29,898 We're sending everybody this way, towards the water. 371 00:31:31,599 --> 00:31:35,236 And I evacuated with my coworker, Muzua, 372 00:31:35,804 --> 00:31:37,739 who to the day is my hero. 373 00:31:46,147 --> 00:31:49,184 We were coming down the stairs and I wanted to stop 374 00:31:49,184 --> 00:31:51,286 because I was tired. 375 00:31:51,286 --> 00:31:52,987 So, he grabbed my hand and he just pulled me down 376 00:31:52,987 --> 00:31:54,155 the rest of the way. 377 00:31:54,155 --> 00:31:56,424 And I'm going down like, "Please, please, let me stop." 378 00:31:56,424 --> 00:31:59,294 He said, "We can't stop. We have to keep moving." 379 00:31:59,294 --> 00:32:02,096 And when I came out and that smoke, 380 00:32:02,096 --> 00:32:06,034 or that cloud, that scared the life outta me. 381 00:32:06,801 --> 00:32:09,771 It's like a hurricane coming through and it was this air 382 00:32:09,771 --> 00:32:12,240 blowing through and I saw people were caught up in the 383 00:32:12,240 --> 00:32:14,509 air just blowing through. 384 00:32:16,177 --> 00:32:17,779 Can you tell me what happened? 385 00:32:17,779 --> 00:32:19,280 What'd you see? 386 00:32:19,280 --> 00:32:20,482 We got to the... 387 00:32:20,482 --> 00:32:22,383 All the way to the lobby and all of a sudden it 388 00:32:22,383 --> 00:32:24,219 was this big explosion. 389 00:32:24,219 --> 00:32:26,221 Mom, I just want you to know I'm alright. 390 00:32:27,255 --> 00:32:28,356 I don't know what else to tell you. 391 00:32:28,356 --> 00:32:29,791 We came from the 82nd floor and I don't know where 392 00:32:29,791 --> 00:32:33,027 my peers are, I don't know, I hope to God they okay. 393 00:32:33,361 --> 00:32:36,865 It was like a comet just hit the earth. 394 00:32:37,298 --> 00:32:38,933 Like a comet? Yeah. 395 00:32:38,933 --> 00:32:40,768 Look at this. Look at this. 396 00:32:40,768 --> 00:32:43,137 Look at your clothes. Look at you. 397 00:32:45,840 --> 00:32:49,911 Whatever this stuff is, I hope it doesn't kill ya. 398 00:32:56,918 --> 00:33:00,221 Daphne, don't give up now. Daphne. 399 00:33:00,755 --> 00:33:01,756 I just cried. 400 00:33:01,756 --> 00:33:03,258 I remember crying a lot. 401 00:33:03,258 --> 00:33:06,528 I'm just tired. I'm tired. 402 00:33:07,362 --> 00:33:11,199 And I remember just being sad, I was sad. 403 00:33:11,900 --> 00:33:16,137 I was like, I just couldn't understand, you know, 404 00:33:16,137 --> 00:33:19,173 what happened, why it happened. 405 00:33:21,075 --> 00:33:23,945 And I remember sitting there and this lady was trying to tell me. 406 00:33:24,879 --> 00:33:27,615 Can you even begin to fathom the people who may have done this? 407 00:33:28,149 --> 00:33:29,918 I dunno. 408 00:33:29,918 --> 00:33:32,053 Can you even begin to fathom why? 409 00:33:32,053 --> 00:33:33,821 Why it happened? 410 00:33:33,821 --> 00:33:35,123 Why a plane hit the building? 411 00:33:35,123 --> 00:33:37,525 Why a plan was hijacked and... 412 00:33:37,525 --> 00:33:39,093 Excuse me. 413 00:33:39,093 --> 00:33:40,261 I hope you understand, 414 00:33:40,261 --> 00:33:43,398 that plane might have been high‐jacked by a terrorist. 415 00:33:44,666 --> 00:33:46,701 This didn't happen by chance. 416 00:33:46,701 --> 00:33:50,204 Jesus. In America?! 417 00:33:51,506 --> 00:33:58,079 I don't know what to say. I don't what to say. 418 00:34:03,384 --> 00:34:07,555 All I could think about was all the firefighters... 419 00:34:10,725 --> 00:34:12,727 running up the stairs, 420 00:34:12,727 --> 00:34:14,529 you know, going to help whoever, 421 00:34:14,529 --> 00:34:17,332 you know, was up there. 422 00:34:17,332 --> 00:34:20,301 And I remember this young kid running behind them with 423 00:34:20,301 --> 00:34:23,638 a fire extinguisher going to help the people, 424 00:34:24,806 --> 00:34:27,008 I think it was like a young kid, 425 00:34:27,008 --> 00:34:29,844 right outta high school, looked like a little boy. 426 00:34:30,378 --> 00:34:34,082 And he, he was going to help. 427 00:34:39,220 --> 00:34:41,022 And I remember his face, he was like, 428 00:34:41,022 --> 00:34:43,958 "Yeah, I'm going, I'm gonna help some people, 429 00:34:43,958 --> 00:34:45,760 I'm gonna help some people." 430 00:34:45,760 --> 00:34:49,497 I'm like, "Okay, alright, alright." 431 00:34:51,432 --> 00:34:55,570 And when I get downstairs, you know, 432 00:34:55,570 --> 00:34:59,173 get out to find out that the building collapsed. 433 00:35:00,375 --> 00:35:04,812 And I'm like, this young kid trying to... 434 00:35:04,812 --> 00:35:09,484 I consider him a hero. 435 00:35:10,051 --> 00:35:12,153 And I'm like, I always ask myself, 436 00:35:12,153 --> 00:35:14,922 I wonder if they survived? 437 00:35:14,922 --> 00:35:18,526 I wonder if they made it out? 438 00:35:18,526 --> 00:35:21,496 That bothered me a lot. 439 00:35:32,840 --> 00:35:34,442 Some companies didn't make it out though 440 00:35:34,442 --> 00:35:40,214 that were in that original fifth alarm, made it out but a lot of guys didn't. 441 00:35:45,353 --> 00:35:47,522 After a while I realized that I needed 442 00:35:47,522 --> 00:35:49,891 to contact my family. 443 00:35:52,060 --> 00:35:55,396 I remember taking out my cell phone and I'm thinking let me 444 00:35:55,396 --> 00:35:58,199 try and call my Mom, you know, and people that know me. 445 00:35:58,199 --> 00:36:00,435 So I dial the phone and I call my Mom and 446 00:36:00,435 --> 00:36:01,836 busy, busy, busy. 447 00:36:01,836 --> 00:36:04,639 And then all of a sudden the phone picked up and it was my aunt. 448 00:36:04,639 --> 00:36:06,974 And she tells me, "Oh my God, you're okay, you're okay." 449 00:36:06,974 --> 00:36:09,210 I go, "Yes, I'm okay, I'm alive, I'm down here, 450 00:36:09,210 --> 00:36:10,578 I'm working", I said, 451 00:36:10,578 --> 00:36:12,246 "But I survived", I said, "I was in the building, I survived." 452 00:36:12,246 --> 00:36:14,215 She goes, "Your Mom's here, your Mom's here." 453 00:36:14,215 --> 00:36:15,983 And I remember my Mom getting on the phone and 454 00:36:15,983 --> 00:36:17,518 she was panicking and crying and she's like, 455 00:36:17,518 --> 00:36:19,320 "Oh my God, thank God you're alive, thank God." 456 00:36:19,320 --> 00:36:20,955 She goes, "Your brother was dispatched, 457 00:36:20,955 --> 00:36:23,558 he's somewhere down there." 458 00:36:27,361 --> 00:36:30,732 My brother Michael was also a firefighter. 459 00:36:34,068 --> 00:36:35,636 So I said, "Okay, I gotta go Ma. 460 00:36:35,636 --> 00:36:37,371 I gotta go, I gotta go find Michael, 461 00:36:37,371 --> 00:36:38,840 I gotta go find my brother." 462 00:36:38,840 --> 00:36:42,009 And I remember getting on my radio and calling my brother's company, 463 00:36:42,009 --> 00:36:44,112 and he was in Engine Company 228. 464 00:36:44,112 --> 00:36:46,414 And I'm like, "Ladder Ten to Engine 228. 465 00:36:46,414 --> 00:36:48,549 Come in Engine 228", a couple of times, 466 00:36:48,549 --> 00:36:50,051 "Ladder Ten to Engine 228." 467 00:36:50,051 --> 00:36:51,119 No response. 468 00:36:51,119 --> 00:36:54,322 Then I go, "John Morabito to Michael Morabito", 469 00:36:54,322 --> 00:36:56,657 like now I'm like desperate to find him. 470 00:36:56,657 --> 00:36:58,626 And I see my captain, Captain Mallory, 471 00:36:58,626 --> 00:37:00,228 he comes walking up to me, he's like, 472 00:37:00,228 --> 00:37:01,662 "What's doing? You're okay, right? 473 00:37:01,662 --> 00:37:03,064 You made it through?" 474 00:37:03,064 --> 00:37:05,533 And I'm like, "Yeah, Cap", I go, "But I'm looking for my brother." 475 00:37:05,533 --> 00:37:08,236 He's like, "Alright," he goes, "Let's", 476 00:37:08,236 --> 00:37:10,772 he goes, "There's a command center over here, they gotta table", 477 00:37:10,772 --> 00:37:13,174 he goes, "They're marking off everybody that's not accounted for." 478 00:37:13,174 --> 00:37:15,643 He goes, "Let's go look at the command center." 479 00:37:25,019 --> 00:37:28,222 We went over to the command center and I'm looking at the 480 00:37:28,222 --> 00:37:30,491 paper that they got and they got all names written on 481 00:37:30,491 --> 00:37:33,528 pieces of oak tagging and I'm spotting names of guys that I know. 482 00:37:33,528 --> 00:37:35,396 I'm like, "Oh my God, he's not here." 483 00:37:35,396 --> 00:37:37,565 And this was just a list of names of guys that were 484 00:37:37,565 --> 00:37:39,300 unaccounted for. 485 00:37:39,300 --> 00:37:41,803 And as we go down the list, my brother's name is on the list. 486 00:37:52,914 --> 00:37:55,183 And he's like, "Listen, this is just an early list, 487 00:37:55,183 --> 00:37:56,984 don't think about it", you know, 488 00:37:56,984 --> 00:37:58,319 "Don't worry about it." 489 00:37:58,319 --> 00:37:59,921 And I see all the guys in his company, 490 00:37:59,921 --> 00:38:01,022 I see their names on that list, 491 00:38:01,022 --> 00:38:03,024 I'm like, his whole company is gone, they're gone. 492 00:38:03,024 --> 00:38:04,692 I'm like, I don't even know how I'm gonna go home, 493 00:38:04,692 --> 00:38:06,727 how am I gonna go home and face my family, 494 00:38:06,727 --> 00:38:09,831 knowing that my brother, who got on the job after me, 495 00:38:09,831 --> 00:38:13,100 kinda followed in my footstep, he's no longer with us because 496 00:38:13,100 --> 00:38:15,269 of this situation, how am I gonna do this. 497 00:38:15,269 --> 00:38:18,239 I felt lost. 498 00:38:26,214 --> 00:38:28,783 And I remember walking around, 499 00:38:30,551 --> 00:38:32,153 and I remember seeing a fire hydrant 500 00:38:32,153 --> 00:38:35,690 in the middle of the street and I was so thirsty 501 00:38:35,690 --> 00:38:37,558 and I took a little bit of water. 502 00:38:37,558 --> 00:38:39,360 And I'm drinking the water and I wash my face and I looked up 503 00:38:39,360 --> 00:38:40,728 and my brother... 504 00:38:42,930 --> 00:38:45,967 walks right in front of me, like it was meant to be. 505 00:38:46,200 --> 00:38:47,935 I'm like, I grab him, I'm like, "Mike! Mike" 506 00:38:47,935 --> 00:38:49,170 And he jumps up, he's like, "John", 507 00:38:49,170 --> 00:38:50,137 he goes, "How are you alive?" 508 00:38:50,137 --> 00:38:51,339 I go, "How are you alive?" 509 00:38:51,339 --> 00:38:53,107 He goes, "I was coming out of the tunnel when I saw that 510 00:38:53,107 --> 00:38:54,909 debris go, so I turned to my friend and I said, 511 00:38:54,909 --> 00:38:57,111 my brother just died." 512 00:38:57,111 --> 00:38:59,080 And it's just like this moment of fate where we were at the 513 00:38:59,080 --> 00:39:02,450 same place, at the same time, and we needed to make contact. 514 00:39:02,450 --> 00:39:03,985 And we grab each other and I said to him, 515 00:39:03,985 --> 00:39:05,486 I said, "That's it, the rest of the day, 516 00:39:05,486 --> 00:39:07,021 I'm not gonna lose you again", I go, 517 00:39:07,021 --> 00:39:08,289 "We're staying together. 518 00:39:08,289 --> 00:39:09,290 We're staying together. 519 00:39:09,290 --> 00:39:11,959 We gotta go home together." 520 00:39:14,161 --> 00:39:17,064 It was a tremendous relief. 521 00:39:17,064 --> 00:39:19,400 We were safe. 522 00:39:23,704 --> 00:39:25,539 All you wanna do at this point is get outta here, 523 00:39:25,539 --> 00:39:27,475 you just wanna get away from all of this. 524 00:39:30,144 --> 00:39:33,180 But we knew we needed to turn around and go back in. 525 00:39:46,894 --> 00:39:49,997 There were people who were underneath the debris. 526 00:39:56,871 --> 00:40:00,074 And that we couldn't give up on looking for them. 527 00:40:43,217 --> 00:40:44,885 I just felt so bad. 528 00:40:44,885 --> 00:40:50,424 I just felt so guilty for being alive 'cause so many was gone. 529 00:40:52,326 --> 00:40:58,566 And I thought about those firemen I saw and that little boy, 530 00:40:59,633 --> 00:41:03,104 and to this day, I still wonder about that. 531 00:41:03,104 --> 00:41:06,674 Did they make it out? 532 00:42:10,271 --> 00:42:13,074 They could move, I couldn't. 533 00:42:13,074 --> 00:42:14,375 And I figured that they could run, 534 00:42:14,375 --> 00:42:16,710 they could get out. 535 00:42:16,710 --> 00:42:18,846 But they stayed with me. 536 00:42:25,119 --> 00:42:28,856 Hello, how are you? 537 00:42:29,857 --> 00:42:32,426 Hello. 538 00:42:34,095 --> 00:42:36,664 There was a lot of media attention and the, 539 00:42:36,664 --> 00:42:40,267 the fire department wanted to get our story out because it was one 540 00:42:40,267 --> 00:42:43,304 of the few positive stories from September 11th. 541 00:42:44,472 --> 00:42:46,740 Did you realize that the other tower had collapsed? 542 00:42:46,740 --> 00:42:48,709 No. No, you didn't. 543 00:42:48,709 --> 00:42:50,311 I wondered why you were so calm. 544 00:42:55,749 --> 00:43:00,387 She trusted us a lot and we protected her. 545 00:43:40,761 --> 00:43:43,364 REPORTER You've been listening to a live news conference on 1010 Wins 546 00:43:43,364 --> 00:43:46,333 of Mayor Giuliani and Police Commissioner, Bernard Kerik. 547 00:43:46,333 --> 00:43:50,271 Bernard Kerik's saying that there are some people alive 548 00:43:50,271 --> 00:43:52,373 in the rubble of the World Trade Center. 549 00:43:52,373 --> 00:43:54,875 He's confirming that there are some people alive. 550 00:43:54,875 --> 00:43:57,278 REPORTER 2 Mayor Giuliani confirmed that several people in the rubble 551 00:43:57,278 --> 00:43:59,480 have been calling from cell phones to family members 552 00:43:59,480 --> 00:44:02,516 including a person who's been calling to family in Seattle. 553 00:44:02,516 --> 00:44:03,784 REPORTER 3 Maybe there is a bit of brightness, 554 00:44:03,784 --> 00:44:05,352 there is tomorrow. 555 00:44:05,352 --> 00:44:06,954 Captioned by Cotter Media Group.