On september 1 1 , 2001 ,
the fire fighter from engine 7, ladder 1
responded to the world trade center.
This is their story,
it is also the story of how new york city's bravest
rose to their greatest challenging.
What you are going to see
is the only known footage from inside tower 1
- an eyewitness account of one of the most defining moments of our time.
When you work in a firehouse seven blocks
from the two tallest buildings in New York...
you get to know every step, every staircase, every story.
Morning, Jim.
Couldn't get too close to that razor blade?
l'm James Hanlon.
l've been a New York City firefighter
for nine years at Ladder One downtown.
Last summer, the summer before 9l11
there were days we'd go to the Trade Center
five times in a single shift.
Uh, 10-4. We're going to also send you some help.
My point is, we knew those towers as well as anybody...
but nobody...
...nobody expected September 1 1 .
l've got to get out.
Go to the Trade Center.
On that day
guys from my firehouse, my best friends
were some of the first firefighters
into Tower One after the plane hit.
Those are jumpers.
What they did that day, what everyone there did
was remarkable...
Chief...
...and almost as remarkable
it was captured on videotape
inside the tower
beginning to end.
The tape was shot by two brothers--
Jules and Gedeon Naudet.
Holy shit!
They're documentary filmmakers
and old friends of mine.
l don't know.
They always say there is always a witness for history.
l guess... we're... that day we were chosen to be the witness.
The strange thing is, the tape
the whole story, it kind of happened by accident.
l mean, Jules and Gedeon didn't mean
to make a documentary about 9l1 1 .
We wanted to make a documentary about a... a firefighter.
That's how the whole thing got started.
...nine, ten...
One, two, three...
More to the point
the plan was to follow a rookie.
On the job
we call them probies.
The idea was to show
how a kid almost... become a man in nine months.
Which is their probationary period
where they have to prove themselves.
Let's go, guys. Hurry up. Get in the apartment.
We teamed up, and by June of 2001
the three of us
were out at the Fire Academy, shooting the training.
Open up.
Move in. Watch the ceiling.
After a few weeks of learning the basics
a probie may think
he knows what it takes to be a real fireman.
He's in for a rude awakening.
Can l have the lights, please?
This is a probie.
Became engulfed in fire.
Another firefighter-- no hood.
Be prepared. Wear your gear.
Go into a building
you never know what's going to happen.
The fire was starting to really roll over my head now.
The force of it knocked me down, knocked my helmet off
and my hands were gone.
l take three steps into the apartment
and the floor gave way and we all went
and l'm trying to get my body off the ground now
because l'm laying in boiling water.
My right leg was paralyzed for six months.
This job is no joke.
When you get out there, it's the real world.
Don't be no hot dog, showoff jerk.
Pay attention to the senior men and do what you're told.
Stay low, stay low.
Toward the end of the initial training
we began looking for one
out of the 99 new probies to follow.
My name's Paul Denver.
l'm John Caro.
Antonius Benetatos-- Tony for short.
l was a police officer.
For awhile, l was a pizza man, actually
an Irish pizza man in the Bronx.
This is my first job.
lt sounds kind of cheesy, but l always kind of wanted
to be a hero, and this is really
the only thing you can do that you can do that.
lmmediately, we're, like
Okay, this is the kid. This is the kid. Let's go.
We got Tony assigned to my firehouse
one of the biggest in the city.
lt's Ladder One, plus a whole other company--
Engine Seven.
l am so glad l took this job.
Can't beat it.
My wife... sometimes she gets, like, so frustrated at me
because l'm so happy to come to work, you know
and she gets up in the morning
she's, like, Oh, l got to go to work again.
Meanwhile, l'm up, 5:30 in the morning.
l'm, like, Honey, l'm going to work.
You don't actually wear that shirt, do you?
They are the greatest, incredible guys.
They are guys who fought
some of the worst fires you can imagine--
What's up with that shirt?
What? What's the matter with it?
Soon, they'd face the unthinkable.
Question was, would Tony be ready?
l'm terrified.
This is what l want to do, but it's... it's scary.
l just hope l can...
l can do everything that l'm supposed to do, you know
because l want to help these guys
and l want to be a good fireman
but you know, l'm still worried
about how l'm going to actually react
when there's fire flying over my head.
Here goes.
What's your first name?
Tony. Tony. All right.
You know you come in on Thursday, right?
Thursday? l wasn't sure of that.
Thursday night.
l am now, sir.
You need to sit down?
Yes, sir.
You want to stop calling me sir?
l'm a little bit nervous.
What am l supposed to do when l come in the morning?
Anything l should know?
Uh... be on time.
l just... l want to make sure
l do everything l'm supposed to do.
Thing is, when you're a probie
what you're supposed to do...
We got to do the sheets.
We change the sheets in the mornings.
...is pretty much everything.
More news and traffic coming up.
lt's 6:22.
Oh, l... l got work to do...
l got a job, babe
l got work to do
Oh... oh, oh...
Get all the wheels.
Then we start on top
and wash the rig down.
Probie rules.
Probie always gets in the sink.
Probie does not go in the TV room, ever.
Probie makes sure
there's always hot coffee in the morning.
Do you have an iron at home?
Actually, l do not, sir.
You don't? No.
Probie in a lot of trouble...
take two.
l think l'm doing decently.
l'm still waiting for a fire, that's all--
just waiting for a fire
and l think that will, you know, make a pretty big difference.
Engine, Ladder.
Should we grab that big long thing from the back, too?
Thing is, guys say there are two kinds of probies...
Fire's out.
You're getting closer.
...black clouds and white clouds.
When a black cloud comes
to the firehouse
that probie, he brings all the fires in the city with him.
A white cloud, it's just the opposite--
no fires.
Don't get me wrong, there were fires--
just not when Tony was on duty.
The kid was one very white cloud.
So what do you say?
Does it feel like fire today, or...?
Yeah?
Okay, so, we got a suspicious fire.
Do we have any smoke condition at all?
Negative.
False alarm.
So you catch a job or not?
No, no. l figure it was just an elevator smoking.
Tony was ready, though, right?
l was. l was ready.
Tony was nervous, of course--
terribly nervous--
and as the days would pass
Tony, waiting for his first fire, wanted to prove
to the other guys and even more to himself
that he was going to be a real great fireman.
Tony.
The guys were not going
to make it easy on him.
No one was singling Tony out.
We do it to every probie.
Break your chops
till you laugh about it. Right.
Because that's how we do it.
We'll tease you to do death until you start laughing.
Right. No problem.
You... got to Iove this job.
Sooner or later, and you will.
But before you can love it
you've got to learn it.
Now, say you've got up there now, you've got your helmet on
your bunker gear, and you got to get your mask on.
How are you going to do that without letting go?
Uh, l don't know.
When you hit, what's the best way to hit?
Uh... on-on one knee.
Help! Help!
Hit.
Help! Help! Help!
Help! Help!
lt's hot in here. Hurry up. Make a quick sweep. It's hot.
Means you got to go under the bed, go under the bed.
The next time you do this for real
you're going to be more cautious. Right.
You did fine. All l want you to do is learn to relax.
All right.
You got to remain calm. Okay.
You got to control that surge.
Okay. Okay?
Not bad. Not bad.
That handwriting's getting better already.
Thank you.
All right.
lt's payday today, baby!
Yes.
Okay, thank you.
You're welcome.
For two weeks, l got _672.25.
You got to be kidding me.
You couldn't even buy a six-pack with that.
lt's starting pay, you know?
lf l wanted to get rich, l would have become a lawyer.
But l wanted something
that l'd be able to live with for the rest of my life.
This l can live with.
A lot of the guys feel that way.
You need to get up in the morning
and look yourself in the mirror
and say you're doing something with your life.
Somebody's in there. Hit the door.
You do your job.
You risk your life to help people...
and with time
you become part of a unique, extended family.
We do a lot of things with our families together.
You know, you got a bunch of guys here
that just, uh... they want to be here.
Just making some, uh, onions and mushrooms for the...
...for the steaks.
How's it going, Jimbo, huh?
You doing pretty good?
Oh, this is good here.
Tell me one other job where everyone sits down
to dinner together every night.
Sit down, Steve. You got to be tired now.
Let me help you, Steve
because l think l'm the only guy that helps you
in this firehouse.
l know it was you, Fredo.
You broke my heart.
lt's been four weeks, l think, five weeks, something like that
and l'm still... still no fire, but it will come.
Probably when l'm asleep
and not ready for it, that's when it will come.
lt's 2:30 in the morning, bro.
You can sleep. You can.
All right.
Trust me. When the alarm goes off
they'll come and get you.
Okay.
Engine, Ladder...
All right.
Shut it down, Stan. Shut it down.
l got to spray water.
l'm getting closer.
There you are, Tony. Look-- your first fire.
And it was a car fire, no less.
That's all right.
My first fire was a garbage can fire
on West Broadway and Franklin.
Listen, Tony was getting closer
but for the record, that was some flame.
lt wasn't a real fire.
Hey, Chief, come see his first fire.
lf they're all like that
it's going to be a fun 20 years.
Come here, there's fire over here.
There's the fire, see?
Start the line, put out the steaks.
By the end of August
we knew that we had a great cooking show
and there were no fires.
Waiting for a job-- that was a very big concern.
but every time we'd talk with some of the senior guys
they always told us
Well, be careful what you wish for.
Yesterday, a 27-year-old firefighter--
Staten Island he was stationed--
went to a job and he passed away.
This guy left behind a two-year-old son
and, uh, a baby on the way.
You know, this dude
was just expecting to go home and see his girlfriend
after the tour that day, you know.
Well, we'll go to the funeral on Saturday
and... what can you say, you know?
Detail, ten-hut!
Stand to!
l look back to last summer
and it doesn't just seem like a different time.
lt seems like a different world.
At the time, we didn't think there could be anything worse
than losing a single firefighter.
l mean, looking back, we were all just...
we were kind of innocent, especially Tony.
A bunch of the guys were talking about
what different parts usually get them at the funeral.
When the coffin went past, that was... that was...
that was a little rough.
l don't know.
l know l... l hope it's my last one.
We'll go straight up right now.
There's a lot of things going on at all times, you know?
Shit's hitting the fan, the roof starts to collapse, you got to get off.
You know, you got to really improvise.
Right, right. You know what l mean?
Basically, you have to be on the top of your game.
Right.
You're not the O.V. You're on top of the game.
Right.
This is not a joke, this job. Right.
There's a lot of things to think about, you know?
And tunnel vision, focus, really.
Right, right.
Because that's what's going to keep you alive
and that's what's going to give you the opportunity
to help anybody else.
Right.
You ready to go down?
Fire or no fire, Tony had Iearned a lot that summer.
Sure, he had a ways to go, but we'd teach him.
Far as we knew, there was plenty of time.
A few days later, Jules cooked a French dinner for the guys...
at least, he tried to.
Decided to cook leg of lamb
which l had told them for a long time
was one of my specialties.
l think he cooked one
and we really needed at least five.
Where's Frenchie?
Couple more meals like this
we'll be able to share shirts.
All right, all right. l got a small piece. So what?
My mistake.
We stayed up late
just telling jokes and busting chops.
This is it. That's all that's left.
This is the best part of the meat.
Even though the guys were making fun of us
because we didn't cook enough
we were all having a great time.
We were getting accepted.
Touchdown!
We all joked all night long.
lt was really a great night.
Little did we know.
lt was the night of September 10.
lt's going to be a beautiful day today.
Sunshine throughout, Iow humidity.
Really a splendid September day.
The afternoon temperature about 80 degrees.
Great weather for the primary election.
Tonight, clear and cool...
lt's begun to sound like some sort of a clich\
but really, September 1 1 started out
like every other day.
Currently, winds out of the northwest six miles per hour.
Relative humidity, 700/o.
66 in Newark, 64 degrees in Bridgeport
67 in Midtown and heading for 80.
8:OO in the morning.
Don't throw the fat away, please.
The day guys were just coming in.
l was off that day.
13 guys from myfirehouse Were On.
What happened?
Around 8:30...
Ladder!
...l believe the run came in.
Holy shit!
Right then and there, l knew that
this was going to be the worst day of my life as a firefighter.
lmmediately, l knew that this wasn't an accident.
What am l doing on this...?
Go, go to the Trade Center.
We knew, you know, this was going to be something unusual
something tough, but it would be something
we could handle, or... at least deal with.
Oh, my God.
That looked like a direct attack.
Chief Pfeifer made the first official report.
Battalion 1 to Manhattan.
We have a number of floors on fire.
lt looked like the plane was aiming towards the building.
Transmit a third alarm.
We'll have the staging area at Vesey and West Street.
That would be One World Trade Center?
lt was probably a two-minute ride
but it seemed like it was forever
because there was a lot of things going through your head.
Felt sorry for the people, the people inside the building.
What was going to happen, nobody had any idea.
We've never experienced something like this before.
Everyone we was passing
was looking up.
lt was like the world just stopped.
We are just currently
getting a look at the World Trade Center.
We have something that has happened here.
Flame and an awful lot of smoke from one of the towers.
Whatever has occurred has just occurred, uh, within minutes
and we are trying to determine...
You want me to pull right in here? No, go.
As we swung around in front of World Trade
my mind tells me
Wow. This is bad.
What do we do?
What do we do for this?
We'll get a team up...
We park right under the awning of One World Trade Center.
Chief Pfeifer puts his gear on, and l remember asking him
Chief, can l come in with you?
l want to come in with you
and he says...
Yeah, you stay with me.
Come in with me. Never leave my sight.
l go in and l hear screams
and right to my right there is two people on fire, burning.
l just didn't want to film that.
lt was like no one... no one should see this.
Pfeifer was the first chief into the building.
Right away, a guy from the Port Authority told him
the damage was somewhere above the 78 Floor
but all you had to do was look around--
it was obvious something had happened
right there in the lobby.
You just saw that all the windows were blown out.
The lobby looked like
the plane hit the lobby.
Later, they'd figure out
that flaming jet fuel had shot
straight down the elevator shaft.
All of this damage was done already.
People was all over the place.
So you knew it was going to be worse
when we got upstairs.
Flames are shooting out.
Smoke is pouring out.
l want you to get an engine and team up...
To get an outside line?
Don't go any higher than the 78.
What floor are we talking about?
78.
My main concern was
we had 20 floors of people above...
Chief, you have any idea where the floors are...
...and we had to figure out a way to get them out.
Chief, we haven't found an elevator...
You don't have an elevator yet?
As it turned out, we had no usable elevators.
The freight elevator is gone.
Any elevators working?
With the elevators out
there was only one way to get up there:
walk.
Companies come in.
You see them with a concerned Iook on their face...
We got an extra man.
...and they're sent up.
A firefighter in full gear
carrying 60-something pounds of hose and equipment
takes about a minute to climb one flight of stairs.
These guys were looking at 80 stories just to get there.
Then they'd start working.
l felt the mood that we were going to put the fire out.
Everyone seemed to be confident.
l know l was.
You basically looked at it and said
Okay, we got ten, 20 stories of fire.
We'll deal with it.
We'll get up there.
W-we'll get to it.
There are fire crews just screaming into this area
from every conceivable direction.
By this time
some of the top chiefs in the department
had joined Chief Pfeifer
running the command post...
sending guys upstairs.
Every time l looked around
it was new faces;
some that l recognized.
l had seen Chief Pronti--
great guy, white hair, mustache--
the perfect grandfather that you'd like to have.
l remember seeing Lieutenant Fody--
who was working with Nine Engine--
said hello, and then started going up.
Another of the men who went up was Lieutenant Kevin Pfeifer.
He was in charge of Engine 33
and he was the chief's brother.
l just remember we both Iooked at each other
said a few words, and...
but it was more the look, with a real concern
that this was going to be something tough.
lt's going to be a tough job.
lt's going to be a long job.
They'll put it out. That's what they do.
The last time Jules had seen his brother
was an hour ago at the firehouse.
As far as Jules knew
Gedeon had followed Tony, the probie, into the tower.
When we had left for the odor
of gas in the street...
...for me, he was in the engine
and then when we arrived to the Trade Center
he went up immediately with the guys.
So for me, my brother is going up the stairs.
lt turns out Gedeon was with Tony...
Engine Seven, Ladder One.
This is Firefighter Benetatos.
...but Tony was still at the firehouse...
No, l was off duty.
...and now he'd been ordered to stay there.
Everybody's been recalled.
All available units must come back to the firehouse.
While Tony tried to keep up with the phones...
This is Firefighter Benetatos.
...Gedeon took his camera and started walking
down towards the Trade Center.
He was sure his brother was inside
and he wanted to get to him.
l remember slowly walking down to the World Trade Center.
What really sticks in my mind
is passing by people and filming them
and filming their astonishment.
Eyes saying, This is not happening.
l remember tilting the camera back and forth
between the people and the tower in front of me.
Let's go! Let's move it!
Both towers of the World Trade Center
have been hit by aircraft
both are in flames
both have suffered explosions...
There is a black smoke
coming from both of the towers.
lt's a horrific scene, here.
There's debris flying through the air over the East River
here into Brooklyn...
Mayday! Mayday!
There were two planes.
l saw the second one hit.
lt hit the other tower.
What we knew is that a second plane hit
and we had a lot of people trapped.
Stay together! Stay together!
Let me know what's going on.
We're just going to have to walk it.
There's one way to go.
A second plane just hit.
Motherfuckers!
Now the chiefs would have to set up
a whole other operation over in Tower Two.
He's going to...
l'm going to send him up.
Okay.
This was planned. This was planned.
When the second plane hit
that's when you could see fear.
Both of them are on fire.
You could see it in everybody's eye.
Do not come down here.
Tell her your co-workers are with you.
There were people from all over the world in the streets...
...different colors, different languages.
On those few blocks
between the firehouse and the World Trade Center
the entire world was there...
Two aircraft!
The first one on One World Trade Center!
The second one just happened.
...and they were all looking at the same thing
and talking about the same thing
and reacting the same way.
l saw it! A plane!
You saw a plane go in?
A plane went straight into the building
right there into the side!
A plane? Yeah.
That was a direct hit.
There were two planes?
There's two.
One in each building?
l saw the last one.
We heard, Boom! and the whole building...
What are those people going to do?
All the elevators are blocked out.
The staircases might still be... right?
The stairs were crowded.
People were coming down burnt.
Upstairs in Tower One
the guys from my firehouse
were now ten floors up, and climbing.
lf we did talk, it was to the people coming down
trying to comfort them, telling them, It's all right.
Get out, stay calm.
l wound up finding a woman in the C staircase.
Her arms were all burnt.
She was just sitting there, basically in shock.
So, l picked her up under her arms
and l put her in with a group of guys
and asked the group of guys to, you know, take her down.
l spoke with one person, l think the highest floor
that l had heard was
about a survivor from the 80th floor coming down.
So you know that that was intact.
We knew it was going to be a long haul getting up there
and you had to try to conserve
as much energy as possible, if-if that was even possible.
l'm hot.
You know, l could feel the blood in my-my neck pumping.
l could feel my whole, you know, my whole heart
my whole system is really working.
l knew we had to get up to help people.
We had to get up there.
l knew we'd get there
but it was just going to take a while.
You're talking about thousands of casualties
and thousands of potential casualties.
They was pretty much saying, God bless you.
l can't believe y'all going up
and we're coming down.
People, they did... pretty much said
Why y'all going up there? Get out.
People in Stairwell C coming down, please.
Their concern was to get everybody out--
that was the key-- as much people out as possible.
Most of the people in Tower One came out
on the mezzanine above the lobby.
Then, they'd get out through another building.
All right, l want to use the lobby of Seven as a triage.
The chiefs didn't want anyone going through the lobby doors.
First, it was because debris was falling outside.
Then...
Jumpers, jumpers!
...it was people falling.
You don't see it, but you know what it is
and you know that every time you hear that crashing sound
it's a life which is extinguished.
lt's not something you could get used to
and the sound was so loud.
l just remember looking up
thinking, How bad is it up there
that the better option is to jump?
Let's go! Get off the corners!
Let's go! Let's go! Let's go!
Like something out of The Towering Inferno, like a movie.
WINS news time, 9:12.
A major disaster in New York City this morning.
Breaking news now, on 1010 WINS.
Well, we now have some insight
as to what's going on in the air here.
The FBl is now investigating reports
of a plane hijacking
before these crashes we're telling you about
at the World Trade Center towers this morning.
Rescue crews are making their way to the scene
and all of this unfolding in one of the busiest places
in the world-- Downtown Manhattan.
Again, both towers hit by aircraft.
Again, two planes involved in two crashes
into either tower of the World Trade Center
at about ten to 9:OO
and five after 9:OO this morning.
Pieces of the building and the planes
actually landed blocks away.
Do not walk in this area, please!
Gedeon was walking with his camera
when he found a chunk of the plane engine
that had crashed completely through Tower Two.
Whoa, whoa, what are you doing?
Don't be kicking stuff. This is evidence.
Now, you don't kick it.
All right, just get out of the area. Just go.
This is evidence. You're kicking stuff.
What's the matter with you? Come on, let's go.
That was as close as Gedeon would get to the Trade Center
without a firefighter, anyway.
Let's go! Move!
So l decided
that the smartest thing to do was
to slowly walk back to the firehouse
and find a way to go to Jules.
We're just getting word now
one of the two planes was hijacked
after takeoff from Boston.
Two airplanes have crashed
into the World Trade Center
in an apparent terrorist attack on our country.
We now have reports of a fire at the Pentagon.
Fire at the Pentagon being reported this morning.
l was just saying
that officials are calling this an act of terrorism.
They're saying that's clearly what it is--
clearly not an accident.
Arriving back at the firehouse
and Tony's still alone
and he has no clue of what to do.
The Pentagon?
The Pentagon's on fucking fire?
War-- this is war.
And just by listening to him freaking out and swearing
and behaving like l've never seen him behaving
Tony was expressing what we all felt.
At that point, l saw the fireman in him taking over.
l can't believe the fucking Pentagon.
Somebody has balls.
l mean, a few times he was just putting his gear on
and about to rush through the door
and realizing that he was the only one in charge
of this empty firehouse
and going back to the house watch
and looking again at those pictures on TV
and just to make sure that it was real.
We have these two enormous explosions
at the World Trade Center here in New York...
Tony just wanted to go there.
...is open from 23 up.
At stairway B.
ln the lobby, the chiefs were trying to run
the largest rescue operation any of them had ever seen...
...to any units from Tower One on the floor.
...with next to no information coming in from outside.
You got a phone that's working?
l think the entire world knew more than we did.
Everybody had seen the attacks.
Everybody had seen the tower burning...
...had seen the Pentagon.
For us
we didn't have a clue what was going on outside our lobby.
Please, go that way!
One elevator's working going up...
What elevator's working?
lt was like a beehive, that place.
Everybody's working on the phone.
Everybody's working on the radio.
Everybody's getting information--
sending guys up, getting reports...
and just trying to get this thing under control.
At one point, there was even a rumor
a third plane was heading in.
There's another plane coming in!
You've got to remember
at that moment, anything seemed possible.
...the NYPD.
Port Authority police and the military
and l need that done now!
There's another fucking plane?
You get as many people
out of the building, Iet it burn up...
No, no, not only do we got a lot of people in there
we got to get these people out.
That's got to be... That's the priority.
On top of everything else
just talking to the guys in the stairwells was tough.
Four-David to Battalion Seven.
The towers' internal communications setup
had been knocked out by the crash.
That left Fire Department radios.
Suddenly, you have hundreds and hundreds of firefighters
that have radios.
Command Post to Battalion Seven.
lt seems to become more and more difficult.
Command Post to Battalion Seven.
OEM-1 to base.
Please provide me again with your location.
ls anyone in this car?
ls there anyone in this car?
There was one guy from the WTC
who was trying frantically to reach anyone on the elevators.
69 car, anyone in this car?
Hello. Is there anyone in this car?
And going through the list...
Hello. Is there anyone in this car?
And there's about 98 elevators in the World Trade Center.
These fucking cars are dead.
lf you can't speak...
ln the middle of all this
suddenly an elevator opens up
and you see people not having a clue of what's going on
because they've been stuck in there
since the first plane hit.
l was seeing the look on the firefighters.
l don't know...
lt was not fear; it was
What's going on?
Disbelief.
That made me panic a little bit.
That made me panic.
lt was the first time l had seen Father Judge--
The Chaplain, as he's called.
He was in the lobby with us
and l could tell that he was praying.
You know, Father Judge
he would at least make eye contact with you
and kind of give you a reassuring look.
That wasn't occurring--
almost like he knew that this was not good.
This is a dangerous...
this is a dangerous way to go out.
You just can't believe it.
There is one big hole in the side of this building
and there's little flames now and lots of lots of smoke
and people that l've talked to were, like
How big is the plane? How big is the plane?
We've been hearing reports that it is a plane.
Back at the firehouse...
What's up? What's up?
...off-duty guys were starting to show up.
We're just waiting right now.
What's that?
We're just waiting right now.
Tony was... he just had one thing in his mind...
This is bad.
...to go there, and he couldn't.
Two swift alarms right away.
And you know the fucking Pentagon is burning now.
What?
The Pentagon is on fire.
They want everybody to stay here.
They're going to deploy us as needed.
Right now, they got enough guys down there.
They want us in case anything else breaks out.
And that's when Chief Byrnes arrived.
l need a cup of coffee.
Larry Byrnes joined the Fire Department in 1 957.
Retired a battalion chief three years ago.
l couldn't wait. l had to get down there
because, you know what?
They're my firefighters, it's my building, it's my city.
Get your gear all together.
Get a flashlight and a bottle of water.
Okay.
Told the probie
Get your gear. Let's go.
l remember Tony asking me
to bring him some gloves-- medical gloves.
Grab a box of gloves. Go grab a box of gloves.
And by the time l found them
and rushed back...
...they were gone.
The probie and the retired chief were lost in the crowd
headed down to the Trade Center.
Oh, Lord.
l think at that point
the lobby was pretty empty.
There were just a few of us in the lobby
and... and we were discussing tactics.
This is Tower One?
This is Tower One. Put a big one here.
Some of the outlying companies didn't know what Tower One was
and Tower Two, so we were just trying to help them out
by writing it on the desk to make it obvious to people.
lt was just before 10:OO
a little over an hour since the first plane hit.
Firefighters from all over the city were inside those towers--
hundreds of them.
Battalion One to Battalion Two.
A situation that started bad
just gets worse and worse and worse.
The World Trade Center South Tower
which was hit by a plane and racked by an explosion
approximately an hour ago, has totally collapsed.
What happened?
All right, folks...
Get out of the street.
lf you're just joining us this morning
you're in for a... a horrific surprise.
The scene here is just one
right out of one of those movies you would see in Hollywood:
People walking around with cell phones, in tears
holding their heads, looking up
at what's left of the World Trade Center
and just shaking their heads in disbelief.
Out on the street...
everyone knew what just happened.
The South Tower was gone.
What the hell is going on?!
They saw it collapse and ran.
l waited.
Time slowed down and everything became pitch black.
Everybody all right?
Yeah, l'm okay.
How's the way out of here?
And then realized: Okay, l'm... l'm not dead.
Yeah, right here.
So, let's turn on my floodlight
on top of my camera.
All right, come on down this way.
Yeah, let's get out the way we came in!
Everybody down. Everybody down.
Okay, okay.
Come on back.
Everybody down.
lnside the Trade Center
all Jules and Chief Pfeifer knew...
Charles? Yeah, right here!
...all anyone knew...
...was that something had gone terribly wrong.
Got a light?
They're going down.
No, no. Come here.
They asked me, You with the light, help us out.
We've got to get everybody out. Let's go!
l was pointing my light wherever they needed.
Right here.
Right here, right here.
l remember seeing Chief Pfeifer.
Command Post from Tower One:
All units evacuate the building.
Command Post to all units.
He gave it right away; very calm, didn't wait
and it was... for him, it was a precaution.
lt was, Okay, something wrong is happening.
Let's get everybody out.
Where's that flashlight?
Everybody is getting out.
From the tone of his voice
l knew that it was no normal thing.
l knew it was time to leave.
l remember saying to the guys
Well, we're on our own now.
And for the first time
l looked in someone else's eyes and saw fear...
...which you don't see with fire.
We orderly evacuated.
lt was such a long walk-- 20... what, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13.
l was going down the stairs.
l could remember a fireman
resting on the landing and telling them
you know, We've heard a Mayday. Get out of the building.
l don't think they... a lot of them--
l know for a fact-- did not take it serious.
You start to feel your anxiety build up...
...take a deep breath, and you say
lt's going to be all right.
Let's just keep going.
l have brothers ahead of me, brothers behind me.
We're in this together, we're fighting together
and we're going to do what we have to do.
Sarge?
What?
Hey, Pete!
Come on.
Pete!
l was not even consciously filming.
l just had my camera by my side
and pointing the light wherever they needed.
Needed my light to... to-to actually help someone
and then l realized it was Father Judge.
Hurry up!
Okay, guys, here, we need a hand here.
Hey, guys, you come back down!
They saw him lying at the base of the escalator where we were
I and l removed his white collar and l opened up his shirt
and l remember checking for his pulse
and realizing at that time...
um... he was gone.
All right, we got four guys.
O'Neill.
Off the escalator right here.
Come on!
Okay, right here.
Come on, guys, let's go!
Follow my light.
Top of the escalator.
Top of the escalator?
Top of the escalator.
After that, we had to figure out
how to get out of where we were.
...floor to the Command Post.
Do you want us to evacuate?
Because if you go out this way, right where we are now...
people are still jumping...
...debris is still falling and it's too dangerous.
You cannot go out this way.
What?
One World Trade Center
we took a hit on that last explosion.
Command post is being evacuated at this time.
l have people in here
who cannot get out due to the debris field.
1 O-4.
Can we get out here?
Going out this way, Chief?
Hold it, hold it.
Chief Pfeifer tells the people carrying Father Judge
Okay, stay here.
Which way?
l told them that l'll be back
and wait here, and l'll see if the bridge is-is still here.
Chief Pfeifer went to check one of the footbridges
leading out of the Trade Center.
lf it was still standing, it'd be their best way out.
What are we gonna do?
There's no way to get home.
lt's going to be okay.
Did you hear what happened with the other tower?
lt's gone.
You see the tower collapse?
The top or the whole thing?
Looked like the whole thing
and now what they said was
uh, FBl just came here and they said that
uh, that a third plane is what did it.
Another plane hit it.
We'll head down together.
And now l wonder for the first time if...
if Jules is still alive.
l never thought about it before.
Have any firemen been hurt?
Honey, it's a terrible, terrible day.
l'm sure there have been.
l realize that Jules could be dead that very moment
and l was feeling... so responsible.
l was the one who put him in this situation.
l had to find Jules.
Gedeon hitched a ride with three off-duty firemen
determined to get to the Trade Center the only way
they could-- in a pickup truck.
Billy Cosgrove!
We shouldn't have even come in here, man.
All floors are leaving.
Everybody out of Tower One.
Okay!
Battalion One to Division One.
We walk and we walk and we walk and...
Go with the Mayday. Go with the Mayday.
There are Maydays being given
and we start to figure out: Okay...
We should be able to get out here.
...it must be worse than we think
because you cannot have that many Maydays
and all that dust and that noise.
Mayday! Mayday! Mayday...
No! No!
That's when l felt the danger...
for the first time.
lt was all around you.
l mean... every single cell of your body is telling you...
You should not be here.
The scenery was radically different.
l mean, it was... it's white powder everywhere.
Just a few people here and there...
Take yourself a mask.
We got masks, we got an extra cylinder
and l want to go in.
...and this kind of silence.
You okay?
We have ambulances straight down.
Of course, there's no word on casualties...
We have ambulances straight down.
...but suffice to say, the loss of life presumably profound.
Ambulances are straight down.
Of course at this point
everyone's concern is just getting north
getting away from the World Trade Center
as well as finding out where their families are.
The South Tower of the World Trade Center just minutes ago
collapsed to the ground.
Only one tower is standing at this point.
l have a direct line of sight
to what is left of the World Trade Center.
The fire continues to burn.
l can see the flames through the thick smoke.
Battalion One to check out.
l follow the chief.
By this time, Chief Pfeifer had found a safe exit...
...and tried to radio the men in the lobby.
No answer.
Page a Mayday. Go with a Mayday.
So we walked across the bridge back towards the Trade Center
still trying to call on the radio and not getting through.
The guys that we had left there
they're not there anymore.
They had already gone out another way
carrying the body of Father Mychal Judge down the street
to Saint Peter's Church.
They laid his body on the altar.
The chief, his aide Eddy Fahey, and Jules walked outside
underneath the footbridge they just crossed
and into a scene that none of them could even comprehend.
And there's debris everywhere.
There's dust covering the entire place...
Battalion Two to Division One...
...and we look, and the tower is here.
So we said, Okay, probably it was something else.
The tower is nice.
lt's standing, and the other one, we can't see it
but it's probably just, you know, on the other side
and no one tells us-- we have no clue.
Where the Trade Center was
was, uh, just covered with smoke
and that's not unusual for a fire
to have a building disappear behind the smoke.
And there was a...
just a-a sense that this wasn't a good place to stay.
So we walk north.
Just trying to figure out what took place here
and then try to gain some control.
Emergency! Emergency...
So we started to rebuild some sort of structure.
All right, we got everybody out of the lobby
who was in the lobby.
Chief Pfeifer's priority was to set up
a new command post and find his men.
Right now, they were coming down the stairs.
At some point l started to run.
l don't even know if l was touching stairs on my way down.
When l got about to three or two
is when l started to think of my family, you know.
l said, l've got to get out of here.
When we got out to the lobby... it was unbelievable.
Nobody was around.
Command station, there was nobody at the command station.
lt looked like the end of the world.
l-l... joked about it.
l said the command post was abandoned.
The board was set up and nobody was there.
l said, Oh, this is not a good sign.
l knew there was nothing l could really do.
l mean, l was not a fireman.
l had absolutely no medical expertise at all.
l was just a civilian.
But as a cameraman...
yeah, there was something l could do--
and it was to document what was happening.
So the cameraman took over and just filmed.
Gedeon had made his way as close to the tower as he could.
Strange enough, the only thing that was... that was...
my preoccupation was to...
to... to clean my lens.
l don't know if it was a way for me to try focus on something
so l can... stay away from the horror, the reality
but it, uh, it was just my obsession
was my lens needs to be cleaned.
People jumped.
Jules was with Chief Pfeifer, who was plotting his next move.
The firefighters from my house
had reached the lobby and scattered.
You know, kind of walking at this point.
We knew we were out of the building, felt we were safe.
Unfortunately, there were people jumping out of windows.
You could see them hitting the ground all around you
debris hitting the ground.
l thought we was going to get out the building
the chiefs will meet up
but then we come up with a plan and then we go back in.
That's what l thought it would be something like.
Just before l walked out
a fireman out in the middle of the street
was yelling at me, Wait! Wait! throwing up his hands
and, uh, that time l waited
and there was a big thud and then another thud
and, uh, it was two people
who had fallen or jumped from way high up.
Get yourself accounted for
with Chief Gorey down at staging.
Let's move! Come on, Officers.
Basically, everybody was standing
right in the shadow of Tower One.
lt was 10:28 in the morning.
And then comes that-that sound again.
And l don't even have time to think at that point.
l just run.
And it's dead silence; it's nothing
no radio calls, no... no sound, nothing.
And l feel the person who was on top of me get up...
Let's get out of here.
You with me? Yeah.
...and l recognize it's Chief Pfeifer's voice
and l just realized just, you know
he jumped on top of me to protect me from all this.
Help! Help!
Chief Pfeifer said, Okay, let's go now
and we get up, the dust starts to clear
because the wind was blowing in the opposite direction.
After that it was just trying to literally
walk around the block and regroup
and walk back to the scene and see what we could do.
Less than a block away, Gedeon was still in darkness.
The pounding stopped
and you realized now
that you just can't breathe anymore.
We need help!
Let's go before the cars blow up!
This way!
Let's go before the cars blow up!
At that point l realized that l was going to die.
Tell me where to go!
Over here behind the edge of the truck.
Over here. Keep shouting.
Here, come to the truck.
Come on, we got to get out of here.
You got to fucking move, Mftn .
And the only thing l could think about was Jules
and l remember telling myself that if l would survive that
l would... l would be a better brother.
Over here.
Yeah, let's go.
You can make it.
Help him. Help him!
Quickly.
He weighs 400 pounds, dude.
You get over here.
We have to leave here.
He's not standing.
You need to come over here and fucking help me.
The last person Gedeon had filmed
was now lying in the middle of the street.
Grab his legs.
This guy must have been standing outside in the street
when everything collapsed, and he survived it.
And with the help of an FBl agent
he walked him to safety.
And we can't see a thing.
You have to walk, sir. You have to walk.
You're almost there, almost there.
Come on.
And he would pass out every second.
So it was very difficult to carry him.
Thank you both.
Help me! Help me!
Towards us!
Shit.
Do you have some water, something to drink?
Thanks.
Open your mouth.
Open your mouth 'cause l need the water, too.
Thanks.
l had been in this street three times in the last hour.
The first time, it was full of people
the second time, everybody was running away from it
and the third time...
getting out of the last collapse
there was just nobody.
And everything was white.
Everything was covered by the dust.
Holy shit.
lt was the most surreal scene l have ever seen.
l cannot describe what took place.
lt is a scene just not to be believed.
The smoke still billowing.
What we do have is a lockdown.
You can't get in; you can't get out.
You can't go up; you can't go down.
l see that l'm still in the middle of the street
and l see there is a little deli
that seems to be open on the corner.
Yeah, we're getting 02 now.
Oh, okay.
Come on in, guys.
He's in the back!
Make a right.
A lot of people injured--
Hey!
firefighters, bloody noses
things like that.
And then it hits me-- Now, where is my brother?
l was upstairs. l was in the lobby.
Go back here.
l start realizing that l've probably lost my brother.
So l try to go back to the World Trade Center.
l need to go find my brother.
Where are the guys?
l have no idea.
l was with Chief Pfeifer.
And l'm in the middle of the street, walking
and a cop approached me and says, you know
Who are you with?
l'm with the Chief of Battalion One.
Oh, you're Battalion One? Yes.
You got l.D.? Got l.D.?
l have my letter of, uh, from the Commissioner...
Take your letter and your camera
and get out of here... all right?
Go.
So l go back up
walk north, not really knowing where l'm going.
You with the police department?
No, l'm making a documentary on the fire department.
fucking Disneyland. Let's go.
And after l while l said
You know, there's nothing l can do here.
l need to go back to the firehouse.
Maybe they'll have some news.
Maybe he's already back there
but at that point, l just...
l think he's dead...
and it becomes... it becomes too overwhelming.
Walking back to the firehouse
l'm not trying to think for one second about Jules.
That was too much.
Don't worry, honey.
Everyone's asking me, What happened? What happened?
l said, l don't know.
l said, Hell. Hell is what happened.
lt just came down, and it wasn't supposed to come down.
l came back to the firehouse.
Let's go, guys.
Let's go, guys, Iet's move it.
Very emotional.
A lot of guys are crying.
l'm crying.
You all right? Eh?
Where the fuck were you?
l couldn't get back in.
They wouldn't let me up.
And still we don't know how many guys are missing.
We're down there looking.
l got thrown into two ambulances.
We bolted, we ran.
l never got so many hugs in my life.
They were glad to be alive hugs.
lt was a great thing to-to know that, uh...
that, uh, people were surviving this.
l thought you guys were dead.
You're not the only one.
l thought l was dead.
We lost so much that... in that two-hour period.
How you doing? All right?
We felt like we got the hell kicked out of us.
l'm in shock.
l don't know what to do, man.
Go back down there or what?
l'm fucking in shock.
Everyone okay?
You guys were in the building?
Yeah.
So many thoughts and emotions.
We got to call our loved ones, tell them we were okay.
We made it out.
We just made it out.
l was never so happy to hear my mother's voice.
Oh, my mother...
All right, guys?
Little to little
the guys started to come back, one by one.
Again, the cameraman would just film.
l mean, it was just like, vroom!
You heard the ground rumble, and it was just...
fucking debris was just chasing you.
We were running! Hauling ass!
So, it was just filming them coming back and asking them
if they had seen Jules
and nobody could answer this question.
Are you tired, brother?
lt was extremely frustrating and annoying.
One guy from the firehouse came to me
and l asked him, you know, Have you seen Jules?
Do you know where he is?
and he looked at me, and he said
Yes, he's behind you...
and l turn over... and Jules was there
in the firehouse.
l didn't even see him coming in.
And it was like meeting for the first time.
l ask Jules if he's all right
and he tells me, Yes.
He tells me that he was all that time in the lobby.
l never thought l would be so happy to meet my brother
that's for sure.
Cried like babies for about ten minutes.
And, um, l know now what it's like
to think you're going to die.
Oh, fuck, man, we were worried about you guys.
We didn't know what happened to you guys.
Oh, God. Everybody... everybody's accounted for?
Yeah. Right here.
You got everybody?
Everybody's accounted for?
Engine 3-1-6...
You all right?
l-l can't believe we all made it out.
How did we make it out of that building?
30 seconds...
another two flights higher.
Why am l alive, and so many others are dead?
Got down to the lobby
and we saw they abandoned the command post
we knew we were in trouble.
We camped out, it was, it was, it was much worse
than it was going up.
Yeah.
Right? We went up, and they had everything set up.
We came down, it was desolate.
l was, like, Holy shit...
We came down to the lobby, it was like a fuckin' war zone.
There was nobody there.
Where the fuck...? What do we do?
We made it outside, we made it about a block...
We made it at least two blocks
and we started running.
Floor by floor, it started popping out.
lt was as if they had detonated...
Yeah, detonated...
...planned to take down a building.
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!
All the way down. l was watching it and running.
Just ran up West Street.
And then you just saw this cloud of shit chasing you down...
Where did you go?
Just ran up West Street.
Couldn't outrun it.
So what'd you do?
l jumped under a battalion car.
I l hid under the car just waiting to die.
The scene here is reminiscent of a nuclear winter...
Right now, everyone is walking around
with masks covering their faces.
People just wandering the streets
covered in blood, covered in plaster.
They were near the site when the buildings collapsed.
We were on about, l think it was the 28th floor
we hear this fuckin' rumblin'
and l guess that's when Two came down.
l guess it hit One, crushed out the Marriott, whatever...
Am l right? Thought we were fuckin' dead.
l guess the best way to sum this up is
the World Trade Center is no more.
Sit down.
One, two, three...
The loss of life, one can only imagine
is just enormous... it must be incomprehensible at this point.
They have a fireman's...
They have a fireman's body in ten, in house, on the floor.
They dragged him in, but they can't identify him
'cause the shirt where his name is, is ripped
and it's only half a body.
Building started shaking...
guys started running
and, and, uh, by the time l got to the bottom
there was bodies hitting the ground.
Chaplain-- we carried out the chaplain. He was dead.
He was dead?
Yeah.
lt exploded, it all... just blew us all in.
The fire department chaplain?
Yeah. Old guy.
Fuck.
He had no pulse, nothing.
We lucked... you know, in a way, we lucked out.
We were in One. Two fell first.
Then they told us to get out.
Two fell first?
Two fell first.
l can't figure this out.
lt fell while we were in the building.
Yeah. That's why-- we were lucky.
When you guys came out of the building, Two was already gone.
Yeah! Really? Yeah.
Two was gone when we came out of One.
Watching on the news, Two fell... One didn't fall for...
That's what they were getting us out.
The United States will hunt down
and punish those responsible
for these cowardly acts.
Son of a bitch.
l'm going to want a list
of the New York City firefighters
and officers that are willing to go back to work again.
Okay? We probably won't be leaving
for at least a half hour but l want to get a list.
Yeah, l don't why myself and the other guys
were picked to survive this.
We're gonna need masks down there.
ln a way, l feel that there must be a reason.
We'll leave as soon as we get the order from, uh, Division.
What am l supposed to do to... to earn this?
lt's not easy being a survivor.
Put your head back now, gently.
You okay? Yeah.
Oh, that day... that day changed everything.
l think l got fibers in there.
You got fibers in there.
When l came back that day to the firehouse
one firefighter came to me and he said, You know
yesterday you had one brother.
Today you have 50.
lt's good to see you.
lt's hard to even describe
the emotions in the firehouse that day.
On one hand, you celebrated.
Very frightful day, man.
Very happy to be here.
Somehow the guys from our house, they got out.
Everybody came back, one by one, to the firehouse
except... one.
Did you see Tony over there? Benetatos?
Huh? Tony.
Benetatos is the only one that, uh...
Here we were, all accounted for
except for Tony.
Everybody was wondering about Tony.
At the same time, we knew hundreds of firefighters
thousands of people... had to have died in those towers.
And every hour that passed
we were more certain Tony Benetatos was one of them.
Can anybody hear me?
Hey, guys, Deputy Chief Hill called, First Division.
He doesn't want anybody else down there right now.
They got a million guys that are standing around doing nothing.
So, it's a direct order from Hill.
l'd come in from home
and, yeah, we were ordered to stay at the firehouse...
Let's go, guys! Let's move it out!
Let's go!
...but the truth is...
...the guys had to go back
had to start digging for survivors.
Let's go!
That fuckin' mentality--
Get in there, get in there, get in there
get the people out--
is bred in you, it's programmed into you.
l had to go back...
Billy...
...and find the kid.
Shit!
lt's gone, man.
Seven came down?
l got down there just as Seven World Trade finally collapsed.
No sign of Tony anywhere.
lt had to be almost 6:OO
nine hours after everything started...
Hey, Benetatos!
...that Tony just walked in.
l walked in, like, a daze
and they were all like, Hey, it's Benetatos.
You're all right.
What's wrong with your hand? Anything?
Nah.
No? You're all right?
Yeah.
Just chill out.
How you doing?
You okay?
Yeah, l'm all right.
What happened on your end?
l was in the building.
Were you?
ls everyone from the house...?
Everyone?
Everybody is accounted for.
Thank God.
Sit down over there. There are some benches.
You want something to drink? Want something to eat?
How you doing, Tony?
Have some fruit-- nice Vitamin C there for you.
You all right?
So everyone's accounted for?
Everyone here, yeah.
Everyone who was out at... out at the box?
You were the last one.
You motherfuckers, man.
l was so sure you dudes were dead, man.
l'm fuckin' diggin' through shit
and you fuckers are chillin' here, eatin' oranges
and l'm roamin' around Iooking for you, man...
The last one that went out there
came back, and we were all okay.
l left here right after the first collapse.
Turns out Tony had been
with Larry Byrnes the whole time--
the probie and the retired chief.
They were right there when Tower One came down.
Go, go, go, go, go!
Go! Get behind this building!
Get behind this building!
Get in, get in, get in, get in!
We go into the various surrounding buildings...
Come on!
Follow the street! Hello!
Come to the light!
...trying to calm people down...
Stay where you are.
Stay here until you hear differently.
...directing people to go to the Brooklyn Bridge
to get off the island.
Everybody please evacuate the area immediately!
There's people... crying...
Oh, my God!
...people injured.
The one that sticks out in my mind--
There's a guy... his arm had gotten, looked like
severed here, and he was holding his right arm in his left
as he was running
and he was screaming as l was hacking:
l need a medic! l got a bad bleed!
you know, and that kind of shocked me.
We kept going.
l checked all the rigs.
There were rigs crushed
paramedic trucks covered with rubble, flipped.
Fires burning everywhere-- huge fires.
That whole day, l just searched through rubble
lifting things up, checking underneath.
lt was hard for him.
lt was very hard for him.
He's only been a firefighter
for, you know, a couple of months
but he proved himself that day to all the guys, yeah.
There was so much
that we didn't know about that first day--
who had attacked us, how, why.
All we knew was that nothing would ever be the same.
l must've saw about seven or eight bodies
flying through the air, coming from 80 floors up.
And then, of course
the images of the replay that never stops--
of the planes hitting, the towers coming down--
and it was like, Whew... okay, enough TV.
Thankfully, the power went out about that time.
So it was... it was a relief.
The generator may be in the, uh, courtyard
and then we'll hook the lights into it.
l got two more sets of lights coming.
The entire downtown Manhattan Iost power.
lt was really this feeling
that we're going to be there for a long time.
Just a short while ago, Mayor Giuliani
held a news conference, saying it's important
not to lash out in anger because of the attacks
on the World Trade Center...
At the firehouse that night
we just tried to take it all in.
lt's weird, like, Iook at the date.
Nine-one-one?
That's the date.
But that's just it. The whole thing.
They know we were all ready for New Year's Eve
we're all ready for this, we're all ready for that;
we're not ready for September 1 1 .
What, has anybody seen the news? What else happened?
You know what?
l'm afraid to watch the news.
Both towers are completely leveled.
Both towers...
Three buildings are fuckin'-- completely fuckin' gone.
Four, Five, Six, and Seven are gone.
Gone.
They're all gone.
The roof of the Marriott--
we were on the roof of the Marriott.
There was parts all over the fuckin' place-- legs, feet...
lt was nasty.
You all right?
Yeah, l'm all right.
One of the things that sticks with me
more than everything l saw, is l sat down next to Ted--
he looked real bad.
He said, Tony, man, it was...
it was raining bodies.
l just... the way he said it, man, l just...
The man had been through hell.
Good evening.
Today, our fellow citizens, our way of life
our very freedom came under attack
in a series of deliberate and deadly terrorist acts.
lt's a very depressed, dismal, miserable mood.
Hundreds of your firemen
thousands of civilians are gone.
As much... as quickly as you're blowing a match, they're gone.
Flip a switch, they're gone. That's it.
Those buildings came down. Gone.
l don't see them.
lt's hard to believe they're not there.
They're not there.
That was my first reaction.
They're gone.
There is no more World Trade Center.
No.
lt did happen, right?
lt's not something that l'm going to close my eyes
and open them again and l'm going to see the Tower, right?
lt's not there.
You know, and the only thing you have, really
and the only thing that really kept it all together was us
as a group, as a body, as a firehouse.
Around midnight we sent Tony up
to lower the flag to half-mast... again.
There's going to be a lot of pain
to deal with in the future.
l have a pretty good friend
who was in my academy class, in my squad
who is among the missing.
A lot of guys, we all lost friends and family.
l don't want to ever have to put that thing at half-mast again
for the rest of my career.
That's it.
Till the recall ends
I it's 24 on, 24 off 24 on, 24 off.
We got word that we'd start digging in the morning.
Some of the guys with wives and kids went home
just for a few hours.
They knew it might be days
before they'd see their families again.
My son was sleeping.
l picked him up and l put him in my bed
and l wanted him... l wanted him to be with me.
Normally, l would take him out of my bed
and put him in his own bed but this night was the opposite.
He didn't mind that.
He-He actually had a big smile on his face.
lt was wonderful to see that smile again.
Probably the best-best entrance l ever made to a place.
And the kids came out
and we just kind of all cried in one big hug and, uh...
it was, uh...
and we just... we just cried.
All right, l got two, there.
We need a couple more guys out here.
We'll set up a little line.
Yeah, you can climb up there.
Came back to the firehouse the next day.
l couldn't wait to get back, actually
'cause l wanted to get down there.
l figured, Well, we're going to have plenty of people to...
that are going to be trapped, for sure.
We're gonna get them out.
We have to. We always do.
l don't know if anyone's really pulled themselves together.
Focus on what you're doing today.
There will be time enough in a couple of weeks
to really take in what happened to our guys
but today you must focus on what you're doing.
Go in teams of two.
lf one guy falls through a hole
you're going to have a guy there
that knows you fell in that hole.
We're all alive.
That's more than we could have possibly hoped for.
So our job now is to go and do whatever needs to be done
and to do it as much and as hard as we can
for as long as they'll let us.
Some of the guys took a city bus
down to what the media was already calling Ground Zero.
Hey, guys, got extra surgical gloves.
You guys need to put them in your pockets.
Some firemen called it the pile.
For us, it was still the Trade Center, even if it was gone.
Hey, guys, if you hear three horns
it means something might be coming down.
So keep your eyes open
when you're walking around down there.
And l just realized something that l always wanted to deny:
is how evil... evil can be.
We need five firefighters from 19 and 12.
We went down there and formed up companies--
five men and an officer...
Go! Let's go!
We went to work right away, trying to look for survivors.
Try and get some buckets back here! Buckets!
Guys were digging fast, passing those buckets quick...
...digging frantically.
Buckets! Buckets!
Hey, watch your back, guys.
We'd be digging
and all of a sudden, everybody would say, Quiet.
And the whole place would get quiet and people would look.
Hello!
And then slowly they would go back to work
and... and start again.
And that was... that's how things went down there.
l remember
the first time l went there, it was like, Whew!
You know, gateway to hell.
You'd never know unless you were there
but the pile itself seemed to have a life of its own.
lt moved and shifted underneath us.
Every step you took...
...you could fall 30 or 40 feet into a void.
lt spewed fire when we dug into it
and had buried thousands of people
beyond our reach.
All's we saw was steel
and l didn't know how we were going to get below that.
Like, How are we going to find anybody in this?
You know, and you get up on this pile
and you... and you're digging with a shovel
or you're digging with a pickax or something like that
it's... your attempts seem futile
and, um... you know, it was like a drop in the bucket.
But you believed in your heart there was somebody down there
and if could've found one person
you know, that-that was well worth it.
Water!
Need more water!
Whatever risk you were putting yourself at
just to find anybody, that's what drives the guys.
Let's get some buckets back here.
We'd clear what we could by hand.
Then the iron workers would come in
cut the steel beams, and lift them out.
Then we'd just... start digging again.
You have two 1 10-story office buildings.
You don't find a desk.
You don't find a chair.
You don't find a telephone, a computer.
The biggest piece of a telephone l found
was half of the keypad, and it was about this big.
The building collapsed to dust.
How are we supposed to find anybody in this?
There's nothing left of the building.
Bucket!
You find a little spot and you just keep going
and digging and digging, and trying to find something.
You find a foot and then they say:
The building's going to collapse, and you run away.
Go! Go! Go!
Don't stop, just go! Okay, okay.
And then we would go back
and...
mostly just dug.
We found... we found a body.
lt was a girl.
She was dead.
She was... she was definitely dead.
All her clothes had been burned off her.
She looked to be pregnant.
Some people thought maybe she was just bloated
but l don't think so.
She was... she was encased in rubble.
And we had her about halfway uncovered
and getting the body bag ready
and then they told us to run...
and we ran.
So l never got to see if they got her out.
lt would've felt good getting...
saying, All right, at least l got one person out.
One family will be able to have a decent funeral.
Quiet! Quiet!
Our first shift was 24 hours
and in all that time
there was one person pulled out alive-- one.
lt was beyond discouraging.
lt was even hard to understand.
lt was weird, in a way, walking back to the firehouse.
USA! USA!
People were cheering us...
USA! USA!
Thank you!
...but we sure didn't feel like heroes.
Every day, total strangers were showing up with supplies.
Somebody said that you could still use towels. Yes, we could.
So, that's the end of the towels.
Thank you very much. Okay. All right.
They open up the doors and, Io and behold
deliveries were coming... by the ton.
Kitchen.
Why don't you just go right around the corner?
Just dump 'em on the floor.
You can't eat all the cookies they're giving you.
l know it's early in the operation, here
but l just want to thank everyone
for all the hard work that they've been doing.
How we're here, only God knows
but... again, guys, thank you so much.
l really...
you have no idea how much love l have for you guys.
Check the lockers, bro-- all the lockers-- take whatever.
There's something special, you know
when guys are relentless...
...and just going back and forth.
Guys with nails in their hand, taping it up...
gashes, blood everywhere
just taping it up and saying, Let's go back.
Let's see what we can do
to make this situation a little better.
There's got to be people down there still alive.
There has to be.
Listen, we tried to keep hope...
...and we'd look everywhere.
We even crawled down into the stores
and the subway tunnels underneath the site...
...but as days turned into weeks
we began to accept...
...there just wasn't anybody to find...
...but we never stopped looking.
Hey, Chief.
Yes, sir!
We got another body over here.
Firemen deal with ugly things every day--
it's part of the job...
but this was worse.
You have that body bag?
Day after day, it pushed guys to their limit--
maybe past it.
A lot of guys don't know
if they're going to do the job anymore.
l know it's either this or the army now
and l like saving lives.
l don't like taking them.
But after what l saw
if they... if my country decides to send me...
to go kill...
l'll do it now.
Every night around dinnertime
the fire department would put out a list
of firefighters confirmed dead
and every night, that list got longer.
lt is with regret
that the department announces
the deaths of the following members:
Battalion Chief John P. Williamson
Firefighter William Henry
Firefighter Eric T. Allen
Firefighter Manuel Mojica
Firefighter Lawrence J. Bajillio
Firefighter Timothy Haskell
Firefighter Thomas T. Annisted
Firefighter John A. Sentore
Firefighter Shawn...
We lost so many people, that everybody has lost
dear friends, and not just one or two, but-but dozens.
Most days there was a memorial service for some guy you knew
some days two or three, some days four.
One of those services was for Kevin Pfeifer
the chief's brother.
He was last seen in the stairs of Tower One
directing guys to the fastest way out of the building.
l would say that Chief Pfeifer's brother
saved my life.
Saved a lot of lives.
And l remember walking down West Street
and just remembering saying, uh... you know
how much my brother and l used to love
being downtown and, uh...
and doing this job
and, um... and, um...
and how now l didn't love it anymore.
Some of the guys hiked up the stairs
in a building near the site...
...but not to put out a fire or rescue civilians.
One! Two! Three!
They made the climb... to lift our spirits.
lt's like our moment in time, our disaster to handle.
Every generation's gone through it.
Some struggle more than others...
...but we just have to try to take it for what it's worth
and-and go on.
And you see, little by little, life... starting to go on.
A few weeks passed and we got new rigs.
Well, used rigs
to replace Engine Seven and Ladder One.
They're still buried in there somewhere, under the pile.
Eventually, we started going on runs again...
lt feels good, don't it?
...playing pranks again
and trying our best to love the job again...
...but things will never be the way they were.
Every now and then l still wonder
is it, is it really true, you know?
l know it happened, but...
l don't know-- how do you deal with something like this?
lt's the 1 1th every day for me when l wake up.
So did you want the new tape?
As for Jules and Gedeon
it's strange how things work out.
ln the beginning they came to me and they said
Let's make a documentary about a boy becoming a man
during his nine-month probationary period.
lt turns out Tony became a man in about nine hours
trying to help out on 9l1 1 .
You know how you could tell that?
He's not bragging about it.
lt said to fill.
We were the only ones on the ticket
but it said to fill 10-75.
Do l feel like it's given me more of a sense of self-worth?
Yes.
Has it made me a man?
Uh...
What's a man?
You know, l'll still watch cartoons
and do my stupid things.
l'm just a person who tries to do good
just like every other person in the fire department.
For the fire department, now it's about rebuilding...
somehow.
At our firehouse, we've already got new probies to break in...
You get one chance to make a first impression.
...two guys fresh out of the Academy.
lt's strange to think they'll never know what it was like
to be a New York City fireman before September 1 1 ...
...and they'll never really understand
what we lost that day.
All we can do is tell them the stories
and show them the tape.
The valley is hushed
And the flowers are all dying
The meadow here is white
With the winter snow
Lone, as l stand
ln the place where Danny's lying
l say a silent prayer
Somehow l know
He hears me there
So soft l tread above him
So now he sleeps in peace
He hears Danny's voice
No more
Oh, Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling
From glen to glen and down the mountainside
The summer's gone, and all the flowers are dying
'Tis you, 'tis you must go and l must bide
But come ye back when summer's in the meadow
Or when the valley's hushed and white with snow
'Tis l'll be here in sunshine or in shadow
Oh, Danny boy, oh, Danny boy, l love you so
And when you come, and all the flowers are dying
And l am dead, as dead l well may be
You'll come and find the place where l am lying
And kneel and say an Ave there for me
And l will hear, though soft you tread above me
And on my grave will warmer, sweeter be
For you will bend and tell me that you love me
And l shall sleep in peace
Until you come to me.