By Joseph Pfeifer
At 08:46 a.m. on September 11, 2001, while in lower Manhattan at a routine emergency call for an odor of gas in the street, we heard the loud roar of a plane’s jet engines and watched a low-flying commercial airliner race past us at top speed. It was so low that we could read the name of the airline, American, on the fuselage. Then, we saw the plane crash into the World Trade Center (WTC). The fiery explosion from the impact sent flames racing up the skyscraper. Turning to my firefighters, I ordered them, “Go to the World Trade Center.” As a chief, I immediately took command.
What we did not understand at that moment was that we were about to be forged by fire and smoke.
As we established command and began to send firefighters up to evacuate and rescue people, we heard a second plane, traveling at 586 mph, smash nose-first into the South Tower at 09:03 a.m. Other planes would later crash into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
The world watched in disbelief as 20,000 people found themselves facing their greatest moment of need.
FDNY launched an unprecedented effort to evacuate the buildings and rescue those who could not escape. Hundreds of firefighters rushed to the skyscrapers to save those trapped above the flames and encourage others to evacuate quickly.
But at 09:59 a.m., the unimaginable happened. The WTC South Tower, a 110-story high-rise building, collapsed. I promptly ordered all units to evacuate the North Tower. But time was running out. Then, at 10:28 a.m., there was a loud rumbling sound of crumbling concrete and twisting steel. The North Tower, another 110-story building, collapsed.
We – all of us in Lower Manhattan – were covered in dark, smoky dust. In an instant, the whole world was transformed by fire and smoke.
United Nations Global Congress of Victims of Terrorism
Twenty-one years later, on Sept. 8, 2022, I was honored to speak at the United Nations in the General Assembly Hall at a Global Congress of Victims of Terrorism. The following is part of what I shared with the victims, ambassadors and delegates from over 100 countries:
A call to action
Being at the U.N. in my fire department dress uniform was a unique invitation for people to tell me their heartbreaking stories of losing loved ones or being seriously injured by terrorism. One victim from Argentina cried as she told me that she lost her husband in a terrorist vehicle ramming incident on the sidewalks of NYC along West Street between Houston and Chambers streets in 2017. I hugged her as I told her I was the commanding chief there that day.
Another victim with prosthetics told me how he lost his legs in a different terrorist attack. Even with all their tear-filled words, they also wanted to tell me about where they were on 9/11 and what it felt like as they saw the events unfold on the news. Through storytelling, there was a sense of global unity that would allow us to support each other and bring about worldwide change.
Several months later, I was given an opportunity to come out of four and a half years of retirement and return to the FDNY as their first deputy fire commissioner. Some would argue that I have paid my dues after 37 years of service. But being able to make a difference is hard to turn down. I saw this as a chance to unify efforts to bring about change to enhance the department.
As first deputy commissioner, and at times, acting fire commissioner, I responded to a good number of fourth- and fifth-alarm fires, a parking garage collapse where we used robots to search for victims, and even a high-rise crane fire 40 stories above the street where the crane’s telescoping arm came crashing into the street below. At this crane fire, I wore my white helmet with a new gold front-piece and quickly told the incident commander to move the command post out of the potential collapse zone. Then, I briefed New York City’s mayor, Eric Adams, about the incident and how firefighters from our Command Tactical Unit were using drones to guide firefighting units in extinguishing the fire in the crane. Responding to these jobs felt like old times.
I learned from decades of being a chief that leading during challenging times requires three principles, which I call “the art of crisis leadership”:
- The first is to connect quickly to voice, video and data information for situational awareness about the threat or incident.
- The second is to collaborate with each other to exchange ideas. This is critical when dealing with multiple agencies.
- The third is to coordinate and align efforts for an effective response. Managing a fire, medical emergency, pandemic or disaster requires a team.
Exhibiting these leadership principles is essential to organizational and incident management.
It is often a tradition for senior leaders at the top of military commands and fire departments to create challenge coins to represent their commands. For my coin, I carved out these three leadership principles to remind us of our responsibilities as leaders, especially in dangerous situations.
It was a privilege to be back at FDNY, working with our fire commissioner, Fire and EMS chiefs, and civilian team, to envision how FDNY could meet current and future challenges. We worked diligently on strategic plans to meet the response risks environment and enhance FDNY service to NYC.
U.S. Congress Homeland Committee hearing
Nearly one year ago, I testified before the Congressional Committee on Homeland Security. In the past, as the chief of counterterrorism, I have testified in front of Congress in Washington, D.C. This time, Congressional members were meeting in New York City on Sept. 12, 2023, the day after the 22nd anniversary, at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum.
Walking into the museum, we passed a severely damaged red fire truck, and inside an exhibit room with audio and video recordings, there is a glass case with my chief’s helmet from that day. The space for the Congressional hearings was a large open area where, on display, was the last steel I-beam column that was removed at the closing of Ground Zero on May 30, 2002. It was an eerie feeling testifying in the museum with members from Congress in front of me, and behind me the WTC “last column,” representing the Ground Zero rescue and recovery workers, and markings to remember the loss of first responders and so many others. Very visibly painted on the column was FDNY 343, which is still an unthinkable number of losses.
After being sworn in, I started my opening statement by telling the story of that day, which was very similar to the words at the beginning of this article. Stillness filled the open space as my words echoed off the “last column” and the “slurry wall” of Ground Zero in the museum.
However, my testimony needed more than a recounting of the past. I explained how FDNY has prepared for the next extreme event by creating a Center for Terrorism and Disaster Preparedness for intelligence sharing, writing CBRN response plans, designing exercises, forming Rescue Task Forces, and working with other agencies. I mentioned how we constructed a new Fire Department Emergency Operation Center to exchange voice, video and data across agencies, as well as purchase new fire boats and hazmat equipment. I explained how we were also instrumental in promoting the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and created our own Incident Management Team (IMT). These emerged from what we learned when I deployed the first IMT from the Southwest at Ground Zero a week after the 9/11 attacks to help us manage this enormous incident.
The hazards ahead
We have come a long way from 9/11 in developing new procedures to respond to terrorism. Yet this still was not enough. We had to examine the imminent threat and response environment. I had to make Congress aware of the risks we face in New York City and the nation. The system is again blinking red for Homeland Security, as we are confronted with added risks, pushing us yet again to be adaptive.
The use of fire as a weapon remains a security issue, especially when it is deployed in combination with other weapons in vertical terrorist attacks on high-rise buildings.
Another threat is cybersecurity to not only secure our networks from attacks but also develop tactics to respond to cyberattacks with tangible consequences, like electrical power and communications disruptions.
The third significant risk is climate security, managing the effects of more frequent and more intense weather events. Climate security requires adapting plans, allocating resources and working closely with FEMA, the National Guard and other agencies to respond to extreme climate events like hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, rising sea levels, flooding from severe precipitation, and higher heat temperatures. The silent storms of extreme heat are the leading cause of weather-related death annually. Last year, extreme heat caused approximately 350 heat-related deaths in New York City and 2,300 in the U.S.
Nationally and internationally, extreme weather events threaten people’s lives and homes while displacing large populations. Vital supply chains of food, water and fuel are disrupted, affecting survivors and first responders alike. We have seen vivid examples from Hurricane Katrina (2005) and Hurricane Sandy (2012), where, as a chief in NYC, I commanded the biggest residential fire in FDNY’s history. And more recently, wildfires destroyed thousands of homes in Maui (2023) and elsewhere. To meet today’s challenges of climate security also requires climate safety, and like fire safety, we need to educate our communities on what to do and what not to do during extreme weather. These new terms are taking root in the vocabulary of Homeland Security.
Fire & smoke
Our firefighters, EMTS and paramedics have been forged by fire, from the fiery 9/11 terrorist attacks to raging climate change wildfires and extreme heat.
We have also been forged by smoke. Wildfire smoke across the U.S. and Canada has turned our bright blue skies into a smoky gray-orange haze, affecting air quality. But it was the smoke and dust from 9/11 and the nine months of rescue and recovery work that are still having harmful effects on FDNY. In October 2023, we saw the death of the 343rd FDNY member from post-9/11 smoke, equaling the 343 firefighters who died on the day of the attacks. The number of smoke-related cancers and lung and cardiac diseases keeps growing, with 363 FDNY post-9/11 line-of-duty deaths. It is hard to fathom that the 9/11 attacks killed more than 706 FDNY members as of this writing.
From these memories of extreme events comes hope for the future. We see this by expanding Homeland Security to include cybersecurity and climate security. We see hope when FDNY instituted SCBA Overhauling, ensuring that all firefighters and officers continue to use SCBA when searching for hidden pockets of fire. Not permitting firefighters to operate even in light smoke conditions without an SCBA honors the legacy of our post-9/11 heroes who died from WTC smoke and dust. We also see hope when young people worldwide say, “I want to be a firefighter (or EMT) because the 9/11 heroes inspire me.”
We are forged by fire and smoke, allowing us to turn traumatic memories into hope and action to make a difference.
Author’s note: Many of the stories above were sourced from “Ordinary Heroes: A Memoir of 9/11.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Joseph Pfeifer served as an FDNY assistant chief and the chief of counterterrorism and emergency preparedness, where he was the founding director of the FDNY’s Center for Terrorism and Disaster Preparedness, retiring in 2018. He returned to FDNY in 2023 to serve as first deputy fire commissioner and recently retired after serving as acting fire commissioner. Pfeifer is an associate professor at Columbia University and a senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School and the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point. Pfeifer was the first chief at the World Trade Center attack on September 11, 2001. He authored the New York Times bestseller, “Ordinary Heroes: A Memoir of 9/11.”
