Newspaper article on NYC Authority clean air projects in Queens,

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Everybody was stopping in. .. You saw so many faces of 3 apart as if a giant had punched through tinfoil o □

Fire Marshal Stev^ Moslelle and in need of assistance. X it around the comer and that’s “I heard Chief Gand, whose ’fhere were people jumping when the.., hit the fan right offices are three offices away from windows. It was very ■ « * then and there. down the hail, call out to Dan chaotic. When we catered the We heard that loud and Nigro that a plane just hit the lobby, there was a lot of dam- 1 F then ba-boom. It was like an World Trade Center... We all age... broken Hies earthquake or whatever, A jumped up, ran ________________ tiisiodged and laying on the to Chief Gan- giant, giant explosion, ci's office, myself. Chief Nigro, floor, you know, the decorative Kenny made it and those and we looted out the win- panels ail around the walls. other guys made it around dow. And (he World Trade But it was rather calm in the EX this bend here. I was like the Center was on fire ... lobby. last guy. I just turned around While we were on the Brook­ lyn Bridge, some five minutes Chief Heifer was in control. .. Wc tried to gain control of ; ' IR( and just sort of ... I just did a fetal position. I crawled later or so, Chief Gand gu’re a the building systems, meaning p.. down and held, thank God. fifth alarm for the World the communications systems, >; that helmet saved my life. I Trade Center due to the the elevators. None of the ' just held onto it and the amount of fire and smoke we building systems were work- ' impact, I closed my eyes. saw from our position cho the ing. *1110 elevators were all out just (he impact. 1 could just Brooklyn Bris^e. We were on of service. The communication feel [a thing! bitting me. the center of the bridge at the lines were not working. flying.... 'Ilien this big gust time, I remember. Chief Nigro The initial orders were to came and 1 just went flying said to Chief Gand that h’s try and get the elevators in j maybe 30, 40 feet. Tumbling. probably going to be one of operation. We mci up with the .J I got up. got on my hands the worst days of Our career. fire safety director from num­ and knees because all of the (We set up in} front of Two ber One World Trade Center. white — was all over me. I World Financial. Somebody mentioned — I don’t recall Jim Corrigan, who is now deceased, and we told him of -Ik'W- j just kept crawling. My ears were like deaf, you know, who — that (his is our area of our problems, what we needed '> when you hear a giant fire­ refuge should something hap­ tn do, what we needed from ' cracker or .something. I went pen, meaning the two garages. them to gain ctmtrol o f the -I crawling, spitting, and I which during the course of the building systems. He put his couldn’t see anything be­ day did wind up being our first engineers to work on that... cause everything was white. area of refuge when tower Wc realized we had a lot ' 1 just kept crawling.” aumh<rt two collapsed.,. dying and fire up there... 1 Looking at the buUdir^ both specmcally rentemher telling Firefighter Kirt< Ung garage doors were up. We Commissioner Von Essen tliat E^ine 1 in Maiisttan were set up, looking at the we were not attempting to s He was in the north lew building, to the garage on the exHnmish this fire. It’s just : We made it up to the 22nd left, which would be the south garage. Atm! on (he north ga­ rage there was a red van from stricuy a search and rescue operation. There were numerous dis­ IS r. f floor. We stood there for a couple minutes. I believe Andy Det^rHo talked to the communications. . . cussions in die lobby. The A battalion through (he fire ♦ This was our command post. chief of safety came in. He warden phones. and everybody was stopping discussed his concern about '■>1 We did locale somebody al in. You saw so many faces of (he collapse. His advice to us the end of the hall, but every­ guys that are dead today that was to let the building just thing wa^ blown out. The were going into these build­ ings. They’d stopped by, how you doing, where do yew want burn, you know, get the people down and gee out. We said that’s exactly wbal we’re plan­ Ill ceiling had fallen. Ilie drop ceiling had blown to tl^c floor. Some of the walls were blown me to go, they went to their location and they wen: lo work. ning to do. . . We coucentraled on trying to get some type of hand line 7 IliiiOI out. So Andy and I had crawled down (he hallway to get to the Fort Authority' [When] the second plane hit, hardware comiuunicatjous. wc saw I he second plane hit. . , We attempted the repeater I\K>plc actually saw the plane. system ... The repeater sys­ iliiliilS command post. After that we went back to the ntembers, and when You heard it. the closer it got. It tem wasn’t working. So we the building started to shake, just go( louder and louder. I say were at a distinct disadvantage AX'-er-v I don’t remember anybody that he throttled up as fast as he because we had none of (he An emorgency worker treats a victim near the World Trade Center on Sept Tl, 2001. Idling us to get out, but could. That’s what it sounded building systems to work with. AH we had to rely on was 1 there was a Port Authority like, but 1 think he became raoce else says, it was like an earth­ When 1 got down to (he the outside. We Jet them a person was coming down. I person with us and I believe in earshot of us. And he just handy talky conitnunlvations. quake. The building went six lobby, I asked the woman if know, too. and we were afraid don’t know from what floor, he had orders ro leave. came in and put rhe plane Into the building. Once you go up several floors in the towers there, you have poor AI feet to the right, six feet to the she was OK. The two civlltaas because those big plate win­ but on the third floor encoun­ Again, 1 think that's maybe left. We started (o make our told me that they would take dow's. we waJifed to get the tered us. He says. no. 1 know why we were going. 1 believe handy talky communications. way down, a very slow pro­ her. She went with the two people away from there in another exit down (bis way. it was (stairway! B. Again, I Deputy Chief Peter Hayden and that’s we had... Then at cess. Once the Maydays kept civilians.” case it blew and that’s eventu­ Well, that was the only was watching every person I was the oo-dutyde^ity some point in time we were told coming over, guys were just ally what happened. Thank other door (hat we could get coming down, locked ai (heir chief in the there was another event We fKOTO/ ROKPT wetA Epping in the stairwell. Firefighter George Koxlewsfd God. Kenny and I. we closed out of. Il was lucky because face, just to make (Item first division. were in the lobby of the north Firefighter Armando Reno of Engine 65 screams In pain after being rescued. He was found at At approximately the I8th tn the fxjrtii lower lobby off that door so nobody could . . . it wxs pitch-black now so happy that they were getting I was in my tower. We wren’t sure exactly foot of an overpass and said he doesn't remember whM happened when the towers collaps(»!. floor, the other members of ... At that poiat we heard go down there any more. Kenny, well, wc all lined up. It out and we were going in quarters at whit H was. We were told anoth­ Ladder UO started carrying a more jumpers hitting the out­ At that point we were, 1 was not lite a long walk but a and everyflung was OK. the time... I er plane hit (he south tower. north. Then Chief Cassano and EMS Battalion No, S Lt, come my way to use the build­ woman down In a chair... I side awnf^. We thtwght it can’t remember, how long wc good enough walk to get to Making our way down (he heard a 'Ilie last report we had from 1 .started to go south, looking Eloy ASbuerme, who ing as a cover. picked up another civilian al was stuff, but man, (he sound were on that third floor push- (be other exit. It was good stairs, ih^e wasn’t too many plane pass­ ing overhead extremely Si aj^ybody at all was that there were people that were heading up around the 48th floor. That for the command post. We were just north of the north bridge overpass when the stopped at 7th Avenue and West Broadway to help 11 people who bad been In- And then after that I assisted (inaudible) for (he people to be evacuated, and dien 1 don't 10.1 walked her down. She was with two civilians. [ walked her down. She was of those bodies crashing down was unbelievable. Theo Kenny and I just thought, well let’s ing rhe people through. That’s when we felt big giant tremble like a mini earthquake. That that guy found it because I think we would have got stuck That he knew about if. people around. We were like the only company coming down. We reach^ (he looby. low. I ran to was several mlnuics prior to second building came down. I jar^, then proceeded to know how 1 got to Chambers hyperventilating. She thought just in the main lobby was the south tower coUaps- because I don’t think we Again, somebody there told the window .,. The building tliis collapse. So we had people crawled under a fire truck, a West Street and Murray Street, but I went down on she was having a heart attack there and maybe try and pry ing. We didn’t see it but we would have found it. us to leave. I can’t remember line obscured ray vision, but I as high as the 50th floor while fire pumper. I’m pretty sure it Stwet: Chambers Street, and wc just So I put my mask on hex, open and see If anybody i.s left really felt it. All the lights shut , . . We heard Ute lot of (rem- that part ... As I was leav- did bear a large impact. And we bad conununicadons. ? was a pumper. I’m not sure I asked one of the medics IO started setting up triage area at because the dust from the in die elevator Itsdf. down. The emergency lights bling and everything. So we ii^. there were still guys right away i suspected that a think (hat’s about as far up as which one it was. To this day I have all the vehicles rum the Manhattan Community other tower was starting to .. . There was lot of water on the stairwell and every­ better get out of here. This running in. We beard a noise plane had hit somewhere io anybody got. . . don’t know. around facing northbound and College, so in case we bad to come up into the other build­ corning down from the stairs, thing. People were starling to doesn’t look good there is ao like the plane wa< still com­ lower Manhattan. Very quickly ’fhere was a violent impact I just had my helmet off and to collect a key and make that take any of the personnel, and ing. This was probably around a lot of people were panicking really panic. more people coming.. . . ing iu We turned around thereafter there were alarms and (he south tower collapsed just laid down underneath that as a staging area. after that I encountered a like the sixth floor that (he so we kept pushing them out Then there was another As we were walking we to look, and that’s when our transmitted and a report that a while we were in Ac lobby of T was told later that Chief At (hat mne, one of the trade couple of EMS personnel that dust started getting bad. I — pushed them to (bat second- small explosion on that sec­ heard — we thought it was building was going down. plane had hit the World Trade one... It was pitch-black in Cassano did the same (hi:^ buildings collapsed, and 1 had their cell ^one on them, gave her my mask from like 10 floor lobby and then it was ond fl<X)r, I guess it was that another plane coming. It was Aflcr that I clean^ up with

t >. Center. . . (he lobby after that We gave After the second building turned right — (umed left on which 1 used their cell phone down because she was just getting pretry bad out there plate window —■ everything like big sbhbhh. A thousand (he rest of the members of i When we responded in, I an order ro evacuate the build­ collapsed and the dust settled. Murray Street, using the Dis­ number as a communication crying to catch her breath. We because 1 couldn't tell you goii^ ’Hiai’-s when we encoun- times louder than that. It Engine I — ail but Andy 5 entered tte lobby. There were ing. Everybody in the north 1 came out, and I’m here talk­ trict 37 building as my cover, device in case — so that way went down — this was the B what side. I ^css the jet fuel tered 5 engine. They were sounded like a missile coming Desperito, which I later S a number of people mitaide of tower was ordered txit ing to you. which at (hat time I was we can talk to each other, stairwell. We got down to the and everything that was flying coming down from the fourth and we just started Ixx^ung. found out that day that he ? (he'beilding who wereburned Wc directed erecybody scaeaming out to everybody to since all the radio communica- lobby.... down was rcauy kicking up on floor or whatever.. . luckily We took off., We made., made it out but he. dWni’t