They are trained to rush toward disasters, even as others are running away, and so death, in the minds of many New York City firefighters, is a regrettable, but at times unavoidable, part of their difficult job.
But this?
PHOTO: AFP
Ladder company 132 and ladder company 105 and engine company 33 are missing in action. So are all five of the elite rescue companies that serve the city.
PHOTO: AFP
So are all the members of 30 other fire companies that responded to the terrorist attack at the World Trade Center and found themselves caught in the collapse of buildings as they headed up stairwells and through hallways to rescue people.
A total of 350 firefighters, nearly 30 times the number ever lost before by the department in a single event, are missing or dead, officials said. Five of the department's most senior officials, including the chief who specialized in directing rescues from collapses of this sort, are missing or dead.
The wives of some of the missing firefighters have appeared at firehouse doors to see if anyone can help find their husbands.
"I keep looking at the list of people that are missing," fire commissioner Thomas Von Essen said at the scene. "I don't want to talk about all the names. Just a phenomenal group of people. The best of the department. The best rescue guys are missing. It's just unbelievable to me. I don't know."
Shaken firefighters and officers spent much of the day searching through the rubble for lost colleagues. The work served an important purpose even if few people were found to have survived, officials said, because it helped some of the firefighters move past the horrors of the previous day.
Officials have estimated that as many as 400 firefighters were at the scene, including several hundred inside the buildings, when the first of the towers fell around 10am. Some have stories of fortunate escapes just before the buildings collapsed. But far more prevalent are disturbing accounts, such as the death of a department chaplain, the Reverend Mychal Judge, who was giving the last rites to a firefighter who had been injured by a falling body when both were swallowed by cascading rubble.
One of those feared lost in the debris was Captain Timothy Stackpole, who had returned to full duty several months ago after recovering from severe burns he suffered in a fire in 1998.
At engine company 1 in Manhattan, firefighters recalled how they got out of the north tower when they were told the south tower had just collapsed. Their lieutenant, Andy Desperito, told them to get out, while he stopped to help someone. Minutes later, the north tower fell. Desperito's body was recovered later in the day.
Among those caught in the second collapse were three of the department's most senior officials, William Feehan, the first deputy commissioner, Peter Ganci, the chief of department, and Raymond Downey, the chief of special operations, who were directing rescue operations. Chief Downey is still missing, as are Chiefs Gerard Barbara and Donald Burns, two of the highest-ranking supervisors. The bodies of Feehan and Ganci have been recovered.
Occasionally, there was good news. Yesterday, MJ Magbanua, firefighter Daniel Murray, of squad 18, injured but safe at a firehouse on Lafayette Street.
"I feel guilty sitting here," he told her.
"No, you were out there," she reminded him.
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