GROUNDRISING ZERO: FROM REFLECTIONS ON 9/11 IN NYC, 20 YEARS LATER Sponsored by 1 Rising from Ground Zero FROM THE EDITOR There are no words, even images, that can fully capture the EDITOR-IN-CHIEF devastation of September 11, 2001. Janelle Foskett [email protected] For those of us who were not on the scene that day, we can only imagine what it must have been like for first responders EXECUTIVE EDITOR to face 16 acres of horror at Ground Zero, to see a symbol of Marc Bashoor America’s military on fire, and to descend upon a Pennsylvania [email protected] field covered in pieces of an airliner. Those who did face these unimaginable scenes have graciously shared their unique SR. ASSOCIATE EDITOR insights – an inside look at how incident command unfolded at Rachel Engel the scene, the immediate work to support FDNY, and how the [email protected] tragedy changed the survivors forever. It is through their eyes that we reflect on the 20th anniversary of September 11, 2001. EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Greg Friese This publication focuses on personal reflections from the New [email protected] York City response; additional special coverage of response efforts to the Pentagon and Shanksville, Pa., can be found at VP OF CONTENT firerescue1.com/Sept11-20years. Jon Hughes [email protected] We remember and honor the lives lost at the Pentagon, aboard Flight 93 and in New York City, including the 343 firefighters GRAPHIC DESIGN killed on 9/11 and the hundreds who have since lost their lives to Ariel Shumar WTC-related illness. [email protected] Never Forget. Sponsored by Janelle Foskett Editor-in-Chief, FireRescue1.com CONTENTS 4 ‘A command structure was emerging from the rubble’: Incident command on 9/11 and beyond By Chief Joseph Pfeifer 10 ‘We needed to do more’: The evolution of support in the aftermath of tragedy By Chief Ron Siarnicki 16 ‘I needed to make a difference’: My post-9/11 career shift By Chief Michael Buckheit Find more 9/11 personal reflections atfirerescue1.com/Sept11-20years . Rising from Ground Zero 2 The advanced network and technology for first responders To all those on the front lines, we thank you for your service. 3 Rising from Ground Zero A COMMAND STRUCTURE WAS EMERGING FROM THE RUBBLE INCIDENT COMMAND ON 9/11 AND BEYOND Rising from Ground Zero 4 (AP Photo/Graham Morrison) The Ground Zero operation led to advances in incident management that continue to evolve for today’s complex and extreme events By Joseph Pfeifer largest and most dangerous fire of our lives with 20,000 people in desperate need. On the anniversary of 9/11, firefighters worldwide stand at attention and render a respectful salute. I picked up the radio and told the dispatcher, “We We pause to remember each significant moment just had a plane crash into the upper floors of the when terrorists used four commercial airlines World Trade Center. Transmit a second alarm and as missiles, and the ensuing collapse of both start relocating companies into the area.” 110-story World Trade Center (WTC) towers. From years of experience, I knew I had to give a For me, each anniversary brings me back to the concise report. But knowing that I would be the WTC site, where reflective pools represent the first chief to take command at the scene, dozens Twin Towers’ footprints, with the names engraved of thoughts were streaming through my head. I of all the victims. I solemnly stand in my dress had to slow my thinking and create a “deliberate uniform, recalling what I was doing that fateful calm” to consider what I needed to do next to day and the many faces of first responders who take command of the largest fire in FDNY history. reported to me in the North Tower. In about 60 seconds, I radioed dispatch again Memories from the day and said, “We have a number of floors on fire. It looked like the plane was aiming for the building. That morning I could not imagine that responding Transmit a third alarm.” I then gave specific to an odor of gas in the streets of lower instructions on what I wanted these units to do. Manhattan would be the last time anything would Key to my decision-making during the initial resemble routine. shock of this extreme event was to take a At 8:46 a.m., I moment to think and heard the roar of frame the incident. In jet engines and my message, I was watched a passenger telling units that this plane intentionally was not an accident crash into the North but a terrorist attack. Tower. As the plane disintegrated inside What I did not the building, a massive understand at that fireball erupted, moment was how followed by an the situation would unforgettable boom. continue to evolve over those 102 Firefighters jumped minutes, including a on their rigs as I second ordered them to “go plane smashing into to the Trade Center.” the WTC, this time the We were going to the The WTC four-quadrant sector map for command and control. South Tower. 5 Rising from Ground Zero Later, in the middle of our rescue and evacuation Other chiefs took command of each of the four efforts, we heard inconceivable loud rumbling distinct physical sectors caused by the collapse. sounds. In seconds, the lobby of the North Tower Many of us recognized the voices of these chiefs went completely black. Without knowing that the and trusted in their leadership. A command South Tower collapsed, I quickly ordered all units structure was emerging from the rubble. It was to evacuate the North Tower, which collapsed 29 not a pretty org-chart, but there were people to minutes later. rescue, voids to search, and fires to extinguish. The unthinkable was our command challenge. Having barely survived, we stood at the edge of the rubble pile with our fire helmets and gear Evolving command covered in thick gray dust. The death toll was too Over the next week, we established an incident much to imagine. Our senior command chiefs command post at the quarters of Engine 10 and were killed, and the next in line were injured. Ladder 10, which was located directly across the I wondered, “How do we build a command street from the South Tower. While the building structure for such unthinkable destruction?” was damaged, it was still intact. We followed the Incident Command System and formally assigned Little by little, deputy chiefs began to take chiefs to the command and section positions. command as those of us who survived, responding units and off-duty firefighters I became the Planning Chief. One daunting gathered on the pile of twisted steel and task was to make sure there was situational crumbled concrete. awareness about the 16-acre collapse area. Our Geographical Information System (GIS) From the top of a burnt fire truck, a chief asked Unit provided a one-page grid map of the site, for a moment of silence for the many lives lost. dividing it into four quadrants with the footprints From this moment of crisis empathy, he of where the buildings once stood. We gave this re-established command. map to every agency working at what would become known as Ground Zero. ‘Ordinary Heroes: A Memoir of 9/11’ This article is adapted from “Ordinary Heroes: A Memoir of 9/11” by Joseph Pfeifer in agreement with Portfolio, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC © Joseph Pfeifer, 2021. Through Chief Pfeifer’s eyes, we see the horror of the attacks and the courage of the firefighters who ran into the burning towers to save others. We walk with him and his fellow firefighters through weeks of rescue efforts and months of numbing grief as they wrestle with the real meaning of heroism and leadership. Learn more and order “Ordinary Heroes” here. Rising from Ground Zero 6 One outcome of 9/11 was the creation of the FDNY EOCs to manage large-scale events. (Photo/FDNY) A week later, we moved the command post a Southwest Incident Management Team (IMT) that half-dozen blocks away to a large three-story came to New York City to assist us. The IMT’s firehouse on Duane Street, my firehouse. Half Planning Chief came up to me and said, “Chief, of the firehouse quartered Engine 7, Ladder 1 I am from the Forestry’s IMT, and I am here to and Battalion 1. The other half was now the WTC help you.” I looked at him and silently wondered: command post with the apparatus floor as a huge “You’re from the Forestry? The WTC has only one interagency meeting space and the second floor surviving tree. How can you help?” I’m sure my for the command and section chiefs. skepticism was obvious. How could managing wildfires translate to an urban disaster? Coordinated efforts, IMTs and support He went on to say, “Chief, I know how hard you According to New York City executive orders, have been working, and it looks like you can use FDNY would be the incident commander at some help. I can assist you in putting together an a collapse. We had to coordinate operations Incident Action Plan (IAP) and manage the other among FDNY, NYPD, the Medical Examiner, planning functions. We’re not going to take over National Guard, USAR teams, FEMA, construction anything.” He convinced me with his knowledge companies and many other organizations. and empathy. I quickly put the Southwest IMT to I needed help in my expanding role as Planning work on the third floor of our command post and Chief – and I got it.