The New View from Ten House

For so many years, firefighters at FDNY Station-10 were reminded of 9/11/01 by the giant hole that stood just 50 yards from their station. Today, the view is much different, and although we will NEVER FORGET what happened, the new view from Ten House reveals what Americans do following horror and disaster -- they rebuild. Thanks to all of the trade unions for taking One World Trade to the 75th Floor in time for the 10th Anniversary.

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Ground Zero Diary

by: Lou Angeli

Recalling America's Tragedy

The attacks on the World Trade Center towers on September 11, 2001 tested the determination of emergency responders well beyond their experience and imagination. As emergency calls poured in,-- New York City firefighters, police and emergency personnel -- whether on or off duty -- rushed to lower Manhattan.Unaware of the impending collapse of the twin towers, their sole focus was to get in and rescue tens of thousands of people.

As those first responders conducted the search and evacuated victims, the intense heat had rapidly weakened and distorted the massive steel structures.In less than 2 hours it was all over.Just after the twin towers collapsed, casualty estimates were in the tens of thousands. With many of New York’s most seasoned rescue personnel missing in the collapses, surviving firefighters took the initiative of breaking workers into teams to begin search and rescue.

Within minutes, emergency and support personnel across the nation responded to New York City’s – call for help. It would become the greatest rescue and recovery mission in the America’s history.

This is not a tale of heroics -- nor is it an account of the devastation. Those facts are already evident and well documented. This is the story of the people who worked at the worst emergency scene imaginable -- firefighters, law enforcement, and medics -- united as one group, and bound by a common goal.

Please Read "Eight Years Later"

Ground Zero's Silent Heroes

Mt. Sinai Study Fails To Enroll Out-Of-State 9/11 Responders
by Lou Angeli

New York, NY (September 6, 2007) -- On the eve of the 6th anniversary of the attacks on America, the Brooklyn Borough Hall will play host to a Congressional Sub-Committee which is scheduled to listen to statements regarding the health of 9/11 responders who reside outside of New York City and State. For those of you who served at Ground Zero, you are well aware that a huge percentage of emergency service volunteers at Ground Zero hailed from other locales.

Last week a plea was issued by the Committee on Government Oversight and Reform -- Urgent: Out Of State 9/11 Responders Needed To Testify. The intent was to listen to statements from non New York responders to determine how to identify out of state responders, and convince them to enroll in the World Trade Center Medical Monitoring Program.

But - wait. Hold the applause.

Today, the committee agenda was altered. The once urgent plea for out of staters was revoked so that constituents of committee members could be heard. I'd buy into that change, had the hearing been held in DC, before Congressmen representing many other of states. But the hearing in Brooklyn will be attended primarily by New York delegation members, which means that there will be more self-serving New York testimony -- and no voice for Ground Zero's Silent Heroes.

Who are the men and women who responded from outside New York City to serve at Ground Zero? And where are they now?

In its report on the World Trade Center attacks, The Disaster Research Center at the University of Delaware noted that volunteer responders, both trained and untrained, were vital to the rescue effort in New York City, especially during the first 72 hours. Excluding FEMA, nearly every agency which has studied the Trade Center disaster makes note of the importance of an organized volunteer response.

The numbers of volunteer workers who responded to Lower Manhattan during the first days following the attacks has been estimated at 40,000, and there are some reports that suggest numbers as high as 70,000.

During the early stages of rescue and recovery, the volunteers who made it to Ground Zero did so on their own. Many were trained emergency professionals, who were never summoned, but rather “self responded” to the site. Because of their expertise, they immediately began to work assisting FDNY search teams. Others “walk-ins” included steel workers, operating engineers, chiropractors, massage therapists, clergy, college students, and housewives.

The vast majority of the men and women who served at Ground Zero were never asked to respond – they did so because of their desire to help. It's what Americans do well -- helping one another during troubled times.

They came from every state and from Mexico, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Israel and Italy. Unfortunately, we may never know the names of most of 9/11’s out of state responders, especially those skilled in emergency response – the firefighters, law enforcement officers, paramedics, military and nurses, who served at Ground Zero...then disappeared.

Finding them will be like “finding the needle in a haystack” largely due to FEMA’s ongoing directive to restrict volunteer “self-response” during major disasters. (1) It is a concept that is shared and enforced by many local emergency agencies. In many jurisdictions, especially those that operate as career agencies, such a violation could result in disciplinary action, or even worse -- dismissal.

Following the events of September 11, 2001, FEMA and the US Fire Administration distributed a questionnaire in an attempt to gather statistics regarding the response to the World Trade Center disaster. Many of those who could have answered the questionnaire did not, fearing reprisal.

To make matters worse, published newspaper stories and discussion on “non official” web forums suggested that individuals who had taken it upon themselves to respond, had breeched a crime scene and could possibly face local, state and Federal criminal charges. Out of state responders went off the radar.

According to the 2004 Mount Sinai Study it is estimated that some 70% of all 9/11 responders suffer from illnesses related to the rescue and recovery effort. Like their colleagues in New York City and State, hundreds, if not thousands of out of state first responders are ill as well. After all, they worked under the same horrendous conditions and ingested the same hazardous materials as local emergency personnel. Are they being cared for properly – or are they just biding time?

In a few short years, the Medical Monitoring Program has created an extremely detailed database, which allows healthcare professionals to carefully follow treatment and progress of thousands of World Trade Center responders who reside in New York. Reaching out to responders in other states, who served an extremely important role at Ground Zero, is a very important step.

How to effectuate such a response is determined by two very important criteria: A guarantee to those who enroll that their information will remain confidential. And allowing the screeners to take to the streets to enroll these silent responders in their own hometowns.

Oh -- and there's one more critically important criteria. Having Congressional Committees stick to their published agenda -- not placate their colleagues' constiuents.

(1) FEMA Restricts Volunteers at Disasters

2 FDNY Firefighters Killed at Ground Zero

Blaze Rekindles The Horror of 9/11/01

by: Lou Angeli
compiled from dispatches

Two New York firefighters perished while fighting a major blaze in the Deutsche Bank building, just 50 yards from Ground Zero. The building was in the process of being dismantled after it was deemed unsafe following the events of 9/11/01.

The deceased firefighters, both assigned to Ladder 5 amd Engine 24 have been identified as Joseph Graffagnino, 34, an 8 year member of FDNY and 23-year veteran Robert Beddia. On 9/11/01 their firehouse in the Soho section of Manhattan lost 11 members.

WNBC likened the scene to 9/11/01. The acrid smell of smoke, which hung over the neighborhood for days after September 11th, returned to lower Manhattan along with the wail of emergency vehicles.

The abandoned building was being dismantled after it was contaminated in the September 11th attacks. On Tuesday of this past week, workers had dismatled the former 40 story high rise to the 26th floor.

According to initial reports, the blaze broke out at 3:30pm (EDT) between the 14th and 15th floors. The attack was delayed when firefighters found that standpipes were not operational, allowing the blaze to free burn. Firefighters bgean the lengthy task of carrying hoses to upper floors, while others were hoisted by rope to the 17th floor, where the fire started. Within two hours, fire commanders escalated the incident to 7 alarms, bringing 270 firefighters and paramedics, and 70 pieces of apparatus to the scene.

Only a few fire service vehicles were actually operating on scene, directly under the building. Those companies included Engine 10 and Ladder 10, both stationed just feet away on Liberty Street. The remaining companies were staged on West Side Highway and along Church Street – familiar names for those who served at Ground Zero.

The federal Environmental Protection Agency had required that polyurethane sheets surround the building to prevent asbestos and other harmful debris from leaking out. But according to New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, those safety barriers hindered the firefighting operation.

The polyurethane in the building "may in fact have made this fire harder to fight," Spitzer said.

Concerns were raised that smoke plumes coming from the burning building contained the same hazardous materials that caused the building to be condemned several years ago. The most dangerous of those toxic materials is asbestos in a building loaded with the banned fire retardant.

At a Saturday evening press conference, Mayor Michael Bloomberg sought to reassure residents that the chemicals in the building did not present a significant health risk, saying officials saw no need to establish a frozen zone. Firefighters on the scene weren’t buying the mayor’s appraisal, recalling promises by former EPA head Christy Todd Whitman, who claimed on September 13, 2001 that the air at Ground Zero was OK to breathe.

"Terrible event, terrible tragedy, and that house being hit again makes it all the more devastating," said Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta. At least six other firefighters suffered minor injuries, none seriously.

The Deutsche Bank Building sustained major damage during the events of 9/11/01 and was ultimately deemed unsafe to restore. Deconstruction began in 2005 but work was halted for a week last year when a 22-foot-long section of pipe fell from one of the upper floors and went through the roof of a neighboring firehouse, Fire Station 10.

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resources: WNBC, WCBS, NY1
photos courtesy: Brian Fountain