102 Minutes: The Unforgettable Story of the Fight to Survive Inside the Twin Towers

by Dwyer, Jim

  … crowd scurrying in all directions: Alan Reiss, interview by Jim Dwyer, April 30, 2002.

  … Leclaire had to pull them off pay phones: Port Authority police officer David Leclaire, January 29, 2002.

  Sgt. Robert Vargas of the Port Authority police: Port Authority police Sgt. Robert Vargas, written memo, January 31, 2002.

  Firefighter Michael Otten of Ladder 35: Michael Otten, interview by Lauren Wolfe, December 12, 2003.

  Steve Charest, a broker from May Davis: Charest, interview.

  Maffeo always carried tuna to a fire: Linda Maffeo, interview by Elissa Gootman, New York Times, December 2001.

  Capt. William Burke Jr. of Engine 21: Jean Traina, interview by Lauren Wolfe, January 2004.

  Sharon Premoli, the financial executive: Sharon Premoli, interview by Kevin Flynn, March 2004.

  … reports of firemen having chest pains: Lt. Gregg Hansson, interview by Ford Fessenden, July 2002.

  Engine 9. Squad 18: Specific citations of the other units that suffered chest pains is listed in an oral history by Capt. Jay Jonas of the Fire Department of New York that was published in the Times Herald-Record, September 8, 2003.

  At the 19th floor, dozens of exhausted firefighters: Interview with Capt. Joseph Baccellieri of the Court Officers by Kevin Flynn, July 2002 and 2003. An alternative explanation for the large collection of firefighters on the 19th floor is offered by Dennis Smith, the author and retired firefighter, who notes that a battalion chief had been sent to the 23rd floor to set up a command post, and the firefighters may have used the 19th floor as a mustering point.

  On the 31st floor, a dozen firefighters slumped in the hallway: This account is based on radio transmissions and an interview with David Norman, June 2004.

  … a firefighter told them to stuff wet rags underneath the doors: Capt. Joseph Baccellieri, interview.

  “No, I’m staying with my friend”: Anthony Giardina, who witnessed the conversation, interview by Kevin Flynn, April 2004.

  Now, as he approached 27: Keith Meerholz, interview by Jim Dwyer, January 2004.

  Martin and her fellow passengers had tried pushing the alarm buttons: Ian Robb, Judith Martin, Mike Jacobs, Chris Young, interviews by Joseph Plambeck, May 2004.

  Just before 9:30, a new note of alarm: The scene in the lobby was reconstructed based on footage shot by Jules and Gedeon Naudet, accounts in the McKinsey Report, and oral history recollections of firefighters and others present, including Chiefs Pfeifer, Hayden, and Callan.

  In the skies above the trade center, Greg Semendinger: Semendinger’s words and those of other helicopter radio transmissions are taken from a Police Department transcript of traffic on the channel used by its Special Operations Division.

  … thousands of planes were still in the air across the country: Information about the number of flights in the air at the time and the timing of the shutdown of New York airspace is from an interview with Laura J. Brown, a spokesperson for the FAA.

  Air controllers did not realize that at that moment: Port Authority transcripts, La Guardia Airport channels; Jim Dwyer, “Takeoffs Continued until Second Jet Hit the Trade Center, Transcripts Show,” New York Times, December 30, 2003.

  A strike by a third plane: Hayden’s recollections are contained in his oral history obtained by the New York Times and an interview with Firehouse magazine, April 2002.

  Some police officers who had been preparing to go inside paused: Ross memo as above, March 6, 2002.

  … just looked at one another and kept working: Port Authority police officer A. Greenstein, written memo, December 9, 2001.

  … cleared out of the lobby, relocating to West Street: McKinsey Report.

  Later, he would cite the order as a mark: Sheirer’s account is based on footage by the Naudet brothers and an interview with Jim Dwyer, March 2002.

  No one answered his call: McKinsey Report states that no one responded to Callan.

  Chapter 12: “Tell the chief what you just told me.”

  Andreacchio had even started downstairs: Jessica Carucci, niece of Andreacchio, interview by Lauren Wolfe, January 28, 2004. She learned this information at his memorial service.

  Now, he was stuck with Manny Gomez: Carucci, interview. He told her that he was with five people. She spoke with him several minutes before Bramante.

  Bramante talked him through the options: Anthony Bramante, interview by Lauren Wolfe, January 28, 2004.

  … the city’s emergency response program had no mechanism: Bernard B. Kerik, former police commissioner, testimony before 9/11 Commission, May 18, 2004.

  At 9:19, Vadas left a message: Kris McFerren, interviewed by Ford Fessenden, May 2002.

  Mulderry, the former college basketball star: Peter Mulderry, interview by Jim Dwyer, May 2002.

  Five floors above them, Greg Milanowycz: Joseph Milanowycz, interview by Eric Lipton, April 2002.

  At the main post, across West Street: Thomas Fitzpatrick, FDNY, oral history, October 1, 2001.

  At the same post, Lt. Joseph Chiafari: Joseph Chiafari, FDNY, oral history, December 3, 2001.

  His boss, Deputy Assistant Chief Al Turi, began to think: Al Turi, oral history, FDNY, October 23, 2001.

  In one potentially critical area: Years after September 11, the precise reason why the firefighters had such trouble communicating by radio that morning remains a matter of significant debate. Much of the debate centers on the performance of the repeater, or amplifier, that was designed to boost the radio signals of the small handheld radios so that firefighters could communicate through the multiple floors of a high-rise. The repeater was operated through a console that looked like a phone set and sat at the fire-command desks in each of the towers. The 9/11 Commission staff reported in May 2004 that the repeater had worked properly but that, in the stress of the morning, fire chiefs mistakenly thought otherwise. The investigators said the chiefs had not noticed that the button that activated the phone handset on the repeater console had not been depressed. The investigators concluded that when the chiefs could not hear through the handset, they mistakenly believed that the equipment itself was not working and prematurely abandoned it. Actually, it was just the handset that had not been turned on, they said. Fire chiefs in the north tower then relied simply on the unaided signal of their small handheld radios to communicate. The chiefs have insisted that the handset button was correctly pushed and that testing in the lobby showed the repeater was not working properly. Lloyd Thompson, one of the fire-safety directors in the north tower lobby that morning, told the commission that he saw that the handset button had been correctly depressed. As of June 2004, investigators had yet to determine who actually activated the repeater that morning or who might have touched any of the buttons. Chief Palmer subsequently decided to use the repeater channel, Channel 7, when he responded to the south tower. It is not clear how he came to realize that the repeater was working, at least partly. He had been one of the chiefs who had initially tested the repeater in the north tower lobby that morning and concluded it was not working. It is clear that at some point when he arrived at the south tower he tuned his radio to Channel 7, the channel amplified by the repeater. A tape recording of his radio transmissions and those of other firefighters over Channel 7 that morning was later recovered from the rubble. None of the transmissions gives a sense of how Palmer came to realize the repeater was working. The recording also does not contain transmissions from many of the other firefighters who were operating in the south tower. Fire officials have said the low number of transmissions is evidence that the repeater did not work properly. Investigators have said the low number is more likely explained by the fact that so few firefighters were told to operate on that channel.

  Here, too, Palmer was ready: Debbie Palmer, interview by Jim Dwyer, January 2004.

  Mary Jos crawled across the ground: Mary Jos, interview by Ford Fessenden, May 2002.

  Young had not seen Jos on fire: Ling Young, interview by Eric Lipton, New York Times, April 2002; interview by
Jim Dwyer, August 2, 2002.

  Despite being battered: Judy Wein, Ed Nicholls, interviews by Eric Lipton, April 2002; interviews by Jim Dwyer, August 2002.

  From the 88th and 89th floors came calls: 9/11 Commission staff reports, May 2004; interviews with Peter Mulderry, Kimmy Chedel, Kris McFerren, by the New York Times staff.

  Of the eighty-seven people: Work figures from Sandler O’Neill.

  Around this time, Alayne Gentul: Jack Gentul, interview by James Glanz, April 2002.

  Another Fiduciary employee on the 97th floor: Marion Biegeleisen, David Langer, Jack Edelstein, interviews by Lauren Wolfe for the authors, December 2003.

  Ed McNally, the director of technology for Fiduciary: Liz McNally, interview by James Glanz, April 2002.

  Over the radio, the fire dispatcher: FDNY response tape, 9:35 A.M. All quotes of firefighters in chapter 12 were taken from this tape.

  He quietly lobbied: Frank Gribbon, FDNY, interview by Jim Dwyer, February 20, 2004.

  The director of Morgan Stanley: James B. Stewart, Heart of a Soldier: A Story of Love, Heroism, and September 11th (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2002).

  Not far behind them were Judy Wein: Judy Wein, interview by Jim Dwyer, August 2002.

  The firemen looked at them: Ed Nicholls, interview by Jim Dwyer, August 2002.

  Firefighter Tom Kelly struck people: Biographical details from Maureen Paglia, Dennis Kelly, and Tommy Patchel; interviews by Lauren Wolfe for the authors, December 2003–January 2004.

  The city’s 911 operation: Jim Dwyer and Ed Wyatt, “Bloomberg Plans Overhaul of Creaky 911 System,” New York Times, April 13, 2004, p. A1.

  Peruggia summoned an emergency medical technician: John Peruggia, oral history, FDNY, October 25, 2001.

  The 83rd floor appeared to be draped across windows: NIST, “World Trade Center Investigation Status,” December 2003.

  Kevin Cosgrove from Aon: Matthew Walberg, John Keilman, Mickey Ciokajlo, and Ted Gregory, “Small Things Remind of Huge Loss,” Chicago Tribune, October 15, 2001, p. 10.

  The voices from the 105th floor: New York Police Department, “911 Sprint Run,” September 11, 2001. (SPRINT is a computer system that logs 911 phone calls.)

  Calling from the 93rd floor: Marcia De Leon, interviewed by Eric Lipton, May 2002.

  On the street, Rich Zarillo had arrived: Steve Mosiello, oral history, FDNY, October 23, 2001.

  After thirty-three years in the Fire Department: Ganci had been in the Fire Department for thirty-one years when he was named chief.

  A few months earlier, Robert Gabriel Martinez: N. R. Kleinfeld, “A Niche for Helping,” New York Times, December 31, 2001.

  “They’re trying”: Transcript, Port Authority Radio Channel 27 (security), September 11, 2001.

  At that moment, at the command center: Steve Mosiello, Albert Turi, FDNY, oral histories, October 23, 2001.

  Chapter 13: “We’ll come down in a few minutes.”

  “What was that explosion?”: Arlene Nussbaum, interview by Jim Dwyer, April 2002.

  Stockpiled in the south tower: Steve Ashley, “When the Twin Towers Fell,” Scientific American, October 9, 2001.

  It was so strong, the earth shuddered: Won-Young Kim, research scientist, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, e-mail, March 24, 2004.

  It found Sharon Premoli just as she ascended from the concourse: Sharon Premoli, interviews by Kevin Flynn, April 2002, January 2004.

  Mak Hanna, from Frank De Martini’s crew: Mak Hannah, interview by Jim Dwyer, August 2003; Patricia Cullen, e-mail correspondence, January to February 2004.

  By 10:01, two minutes after the south tower: New York Police Department radio transmissions, Special Operations Division channel, September 11, 2001.

  The radio that captured those messages: Chief Joseph Pfeifer, interview by Kevin Flynn, June 2004.

  A moment or two after the shudder: Steve Modica, interview by Michelle O’Donnell, June 2002; Modica, oral history, undated, fall 2001.

  In the middle zone, the building: Joseph Baccellieri, interview by Kevin Flynn, November 2003.

  Warren Smith had fought fires in Manhattan: Warren Smith, oral history, FDNY, December 4, 2001; in his oral history, Smith puts himself on the 31st floor, but other survivors, including people Smith described, uniformly say they were on the 35th floor, not the 31st.

  A moment later: In Smith’s oral history, and in an interview with Hansson, both describe hearing this message through the chief’s radio. However, in the film by Jules Naudet broadcast on CBS, Chief Joseph Pfeifer does not use the term “mayday” in giving his evacuation order. It is possible that another chief also issued an evacuation order and did use the term “mayday.”

  While some firefighters in trouble gave mayday calls: The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States, The 9/11 Commission Report (Washington, D.C., 2004); 307.

  In any event, Chief Picciotto: In Last Man Down, a bestselling book by Picciotto, he maintains that no one communicated with him from the ground to order an evacuation, with or without a mayday, and that he ordered the evacuation on his own initiative. Other dramatic aspects of his account have been directly challenged by other firefighters, and Picciotto has said in newspaper interviews that he no longer makes one of the central claims of the book—that he directed the rescue of a particular woman.

  No one among that group knew the other building: Warren Smith, oral history.

  Robert Byrne, a probationary firefighter: Robert Byrne, oral history, December 7, 2001.

  Hansson and his men went to stairway A: Gregg Hansson, interview by Ford Fessenden, June 2002.

  Billy recognized Captain Burke: Rich Billy, interview by Michelle O’Donnell for the authors, January 2004.

  Forty-six years old, he had worked for twenty-five years: Constance L. Hays, “Rendered by the Flame,” November 11, 2001.

  The elevator door was moving as he pushed it: Chris Young’s account is based on interviews with Dennis Cauchon of USA Today and ABC News in 2002 and subsequent interviews with Joseph Plambeck, on behalf of the authors, in May and June 2004.

  At the collapse of the south tower: Frank DiMola, interview by Jim Dwyer, January 2004.

  Romito’s search crew was at least the fourth agency: National Fire Administration report on 1993 bombing.

  Once again, duplicative searches: Descriptions of multiple sweeps by, among others, PAPD Sgt. Conrad Krueger, memorandum October 1, 2001, which records that he met NYPD ESU officers in tower 1 who wanted to sweep each floor.

  The word to leave finally got to Steve Modica: Steve Modica, interview by Michelle O’Donnell, July 1, 2002.

  “About fifteen floors down from the top, it looks like it’s glowing red”: NYPD tape, Special Operations Division, September 11, 2001.

  For more than eighty minutes: The Port Authority transcripts show that Hoey was directly told to stay in the office by the Port Authority police desk. The transcripts also show that later, a colleague of someone on the 64th floor called the police from outside the building, seeking information on their behalf; he was told they should evacuate. A spokesman for the Port Authority says that this colleague did convey this instruction to the people on the 64th floor, although the agency would not make the person available for an interview.

  They found a door that was open: Port Authority commendation for Pasquale Buzzelli, 2002.

  Hoey called the police desk first: Port Authority transcripts, sergeant’s desk, Central Police Desk, September 11, 2001, 10:12 A.M.

  The message to leave spread fitfully: Smith, oral history.

  Then Hansson walked onto the 19th floor: Gregg Hansson, interview by Ford Fessenden, June 2002.

  They could scarcely believe their eyes: Andrew Wender, interview with Kevin Flynn, June 2002.

  Baccallieri and Moscola took in the scene: Al Moscola, interview with Kevin Flynn, June 2002; Baccellieri, interviews with Kevin Flynn, June 2002, January 2004; Baccellieri, interview with Jim Dwyer, September 20
02.

  Hayes, in police helicopter Aviation 14: NYPD Special Operations Division Channel, tape, September 11, 2001.

  Fred Ill, the captain of Ladder Company 2: Jim Dwyer, “More Tapes from 9/11: ‘They Have Exits in There?’” New York Times, August 17, 2006.

  Chapter 14: “You don’t understand.”

  Spent, Reese sat on the stairs: Jeff Gertler, interview by Jim Dwyer, February 2004.

  For much of the morning, the hotel lobby had served: Rich Fetter, interview by Jim Dwyer, June 2002.

  “Sound off!” the sergeant, John McLoughlin: Will Jimeno, interview by Jim Dwyer, October 29, 2001.

  A bolt of fear ran through Cerquiera: John Cerquiera, interview by Jim Dwyer, November 2001.

  John Abruzzo, a quadriplegic: Port Authority awards citations.

  That sounded like madness to Gertler: Jeff Gertler, interview by Jim Dwyer, January 2004.

  Bill Spade, who eventually found two police officers: Bill Spade, interview by Ford Fessenden, July 2002.

  As the two cops, Curtin and D’Allara: Spade, interview.

  Over time, the flames had spread: Video review of WTC footage by Eric Lipton.

  It was 10:26: Iliana McGinnis, interview by Jim Dwyer, May 2002.

  Lucas would remember: NYPD officer Patrick Lucas, “September 11, 2001,” memorandum, December 10, 2001.

  Upon meeting this latest crisis: Gregg Hansson, interview by Ford Fessenden, July 2002, described seeing Kelly with the man.

  Hansson and James Hall: NYPD officer James E. Hall, “Events Occurring during the World Trade Center Attack,” memorandum, November 2, 2001.

  The building was unstable: Hall, memorandum, p. 2.

  … aluminum skin of the building that seemed to float: Robert Byrne, oral history, winter 2001.