Taking Stock on 9/11, 10 Years Later

This coming September 11, we will honor our brother firefighters who were killed on 9/11. We will renew our promise to never forget, we will subject ourselves to painful memories, we will mourn the friends we lost.

FireRescue’s special coverage of 9/11: 10 Years Later attempts to capture both the personal stories of courage, strength and honor, as well as the ways the 10-year anniversary helps renew focus on our own preparedness. These are not “lessons learned” in the traditional sense–9/11 is too unique an event for that–but rather ways to honor those who were killed by finding opportunities to train and improve.

The FDNY has a rich tradition of multiple generations of the same family being on the job at the same time. On 9/11, that tradition was illustrated in the most heartbreaking way. In “A Common Bond” (p. 50), we talk with FDNY firefighters who lost their sons or their fathers on 9/11. These two unique groups share their perspective on their loss, but also their continued devotion to the fire service and their optimism about how the FDNY is rebuilding.

The most effective change is both top-down and bottom-up, but too often, there’s a discord between administration and line firefighters. Our interview with FDNY Commissioner Sal Cassano, “Raising the Bar” (p. 68), makes clear that this is no longer the case within the FDNY. It’s impossible not to be impressed by how connected the Commissioner is to the troops in the field, while at the same time maintaining the vision necessary to push the department forward.

If you could pinpoint one way in which 9/11 changed the fire service, it would be that our role expanded to include response to terrorism activities of all kinds. To meet that role, an immense training effort has occurred over the last 10 years. Here, we look at three aspects of that training: how the FDNY enhanced its terrorism training efforts after 9/11 (p. 72), the National Fire Academy’s role in preparing firefighters and officers for terrorism events (p. 76), and a program in Philadelphia that emphasizes information sharing to prevent and improve the response to terrorism events (p. 78).

Once an FDNY firefighter, always an FDNY firefighter. FireRescue Technical Editor Andy Speier, a former member of FDNY Ladder 4, felt compelled to join his brothers in the recovery efforts. “The Day That Changed Everything” (p. 84) is a moving account depicting not only the terrible tragedy and loss of that day, but also the resilience of the fire service. Speier also shares structural collapse safety tips.

Thousands of firefighters streamed to New York after the towers collapsed. Many of these firefighters were volunteers self-dispatching to the incident. Although their desire to serve is commendable, Greg Jakubowski reminds us that a better deployment is one that is requested and prepared for. In “Breaking News? Wait for the Call” (p. 94), Greg shares tips for preparing for deployment to a disaster area.

Of course, a look back at September 11 is not complete without an examination of the attack on the Pentagon. In “The Pentagon Response: 2 Perspectives” (p. 100) we talk with Chief Ed Plaugher, who served as the incident commander at the Pentagon, and Deputy Chief John Tippett, who served as a safety officer at the scene.
In addition to these feature articles, you’ll notice that the 9/11 theme runs throughout our magazine, from Fire Attack to Fire Prevention–because, quite simply, this event fundamentally changed the fire service forever.

Memories of 9/11 are important; they keep this event alive and real for us. We will keep our promise to never forget the 343. But just as important are the actions we take to ensure continual progress. We hope this collection of articles helps you remember, while also understanding how the fire service has changed and must continue to move forward.