USA/FILE: Ten years on, New York City firefighters remember 9/11

Record ID: 376351

  • Title: USA/FILE: Ten years on, New York City firefighters remember 9/11
  • Date: 5th September 2011
  • Summary: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (RECENT) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) MICKEY KROSS, RETIRED NEW YORK CITY FIREFIGHTER, SAYING: "People two floors above me to the top, they all died, and two floors below me they all died, and just that little area we were in, the 14 of us survived. So, how do you explain that? Can't."
  • Embargoed: 20th September 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Disasters
  • Reuters ID: LVAAJUPXRCYWEE3YCSBAK6KX6OLG
  • Story Text: Ten years after 9/11, retired New York City firefighter Mickey Kross visited Ground Zero to retell a remarkable story of how he and thirteen others survived as the World Trade Center crumbled around them. Kross was trapped on the third floor of the burning building when the call came to evacuate. All of his men got out. But he and the others were forced to take cover, as best they could, in a stairwell.
    "The stairways started literally vibrating," said Kross. He heard "a very loud noise, a roar, literally a roar over my head."
    "And then the wind, tremendous wind," said Kross, as he recounted the rush of air caused by the falling floors above.
    Ravaged by fire, the building began to pancake.
    "I started actually being lifted up and that's when I grabbed my helmet and ducked in a corner. Just got as small as I could. And then started getting hit and it went quiet," he remembered.
    Kross and the others managed to survive in a small pocket of the stairwell that withstood thousands of tons of falling concrete and steel.
    At first, he wasn't sure he was alive, but then he heard crackling sounds on his emergency radio and was brought back to reality.
    But the realization that a small number lived when thousands, including 343 New York City firefighters, died, is something he'd rather not think about.
    "People two floors above me, they all died. And two floors below me, they all died, and just that little area we were in, the 14 of us, survived."
    Kross and other surviving firefighters quickly mobilized, spending long hours and many days at Ground Zero digging through the rubble or the "pile," as it was called.
    He worked there for 9 months, sifting through huge mounds of steel and concrete debris looking for the remains of those who were not able to escape.
    "We dug with our hands, and that's what we did. It was a simple job and it was an important job and I got a lot of gratitude out of it," said Kross.
    But in 2002, the recovery efforts officially ended. Kross and his crew did not find any survivors.
    While he retired in 2006, Kross still visits the crew at Engine Co. 16, Ladder Co. 7 on Manhattan's East 29th Street, where he worked for more than 20 years.
    At the firehouse the names of those who were on duty on 9/11 remain written on a chalkboard, frozen in time.
    The board is just one indication that the men of this company were hit hard. Nine people from their crew were killed as they attempted to rescue people on that day.
    "No one expected it," Captain James Doddy said. "The call went out. We answered the call."
    Doddy is now one of two senior officers at the firehouse, but he was a Lieutenant in the Bronx on 9/11.
    "The guys went down there to do the best they could. They put themselves in harm's way, which is what they took an oath to do. And with all good faith and honor, they went about their work and unfortunately, you know, the towers came down and we lost some quality people."
    With the 10th anniversary of the attacks approaching, signs that this day looms large in the life of firefighters is visible throughout the main firehouse floor. Numerous tributes to the lost nine line the walls and serve as a reminder to the firefighters before they head out on emergency calls.
    "We always used to say, if you were leaving or getting detailed to another company nearby, you'd always say like 'see you at the big one'. There is no more big ones. That was it," said 9/11 survivor Brian Finley.
    Finley drives the Ladder Co. 7 truck. While he will never forget the scene at Ground Zero, he said that over time he has found comfort by honoring the memories of those who died. He has become close to some of the family members of the lost nine firefighters, and along with others at the firehouse he has celebrated the lives of the men at a special fundraiser hosted by the firehouse.
    The crew will host the benefit again this year, a few days before 9/11. They will also mark the day with the rest of the FDNY in a ceremony that announces the names of the fallen over the loud speaker, timed to the moment the towers fell.
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