TR-076, The World Trade Center Bombing: Report and Analysis, February 16, 1993, 
a compilation of 24-plus articles on this incident originally published in Fire 
Engineering, December 1993*
United States Fire Administration 
Technical Report Series 

The World Trade Center Bombing: Report and Analysis 

Provided by Fire Engineering 

Federal Emergency Management Agency 
United States Fire Administration 
National Fire Data Center 

United States Fire Administration Fire Investigations Program 

The United States Fire Administration develops reports on selected major fires 
throughout the country. The fires usually involve multiple deaths or a large 
loss of property. But the primary criterion for deciding to do a report is 
whether it will result in significant "lessons learned." In some cases these 
lessons bring to light new knowledge about fire --the effect of building 
construction or contents, human behavior in fire, etc. In other cases, the 
lessons are not new but are serious enough to highlight once again, with yet 
another fire tragedy report.

The reports are sent to fire magazines and are distributed at national and 
regional fire meetings. The International Association of Fire Chiefs assists 
USFA in disseminating the findings throughout the fire service. On a continuing 
basis the reports are available on request from USFA; announcements of their 
availability are published widely in fire journals and newsletters.

This body of work provides detailed information on the nature of the fire 
problem for policymakers who must decide on allocations of resources between 
fire and other pressing problems, and within the fire service to improve codes 
and code enforcement, training, public fire education, building technology, and 
other related areas.

Under unusual circumstances the Fire Administration is sometimes not able to 
conduct an investigation after a major fire. Such was the case with the tragic, 
massive emergency of the World Trade Center explosion and subsequent fire and 
evacuation in New York City in February of 1993 because of the criminal 
investigation following the incident and involvement of other federal as well as 
state and local agencies in that investigation. Fortunately Fire Engineering 
magazine subsequently published an entire issue containing over 24 articles 
describing all the major aspects of the incident, fire and EMS operations, 
building construction features, lessons learned in each area, and actions that 
have been taken to improve the facility since the incident. The Fire 
Administration requested permission from Fire Engineering's Editor William A. 
Manning to publish the entire issue, which is how this report came about. Only a 
few of the photographs from the original issue of Fire Engineering were used 
here; their selection was based on suitability for the Xerox-type reproduction 
used for FEMA/ USFA publications.

The United States Fire Administration greatly appreciates the cooperation 
received from the Fire Engineering organization and staff and all of the authors 
and organizations who supplied materials and agreed to their use for this 
purpose.

The Fire Department of the City of New York has also prepared and published an 
extensive after-action report which was published in WNYF (With New York 
Firefighters), Volume 54, Number 3, which the interested reader will wish to 
obtain. For copies contact editor Gloria Sturzenacker, WNYF Subscription 
Department, FDNY Fire Academy, Randall's Island, NY 10035 ($ 4.00 back issue 
price).

For additional copies of this report write to the United States Fire 
Administration, Fire Management Programs, 16825 South Seton Avenue, Emmitsburg, 
Maryland 21727.

The World Trade Center Bombing: Report and Analysis 

Provided by Fire Engineering 
William A. Manning, Editor 

This is Report 076 of the Major Fires Investigation Project conducted by TriData 
Corporation under contract EMW-4-4329 to the United States Fire Administration, 
Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Federal Emergency Management Agency 
United States Fire Administration 
National Fire Data Center 

CONTENTS 

Report from Chief of Department 
by Anthony L. Fusco . . . 1 
Complex Overview 
by Port Authority Risk Management Staff . . . .. . 22 
Blast Damage 
by Steven C. De Rosa . . 24 
The Materials Involved in the WTC Bomb, 
by Frank L. Fire . . . . . 26 
Control of Elevator Operations 
by Steven C. DeRosa .  .27 
First Response: Engine 6 Operations Below Grade 
by Timothy F. Dowling . .. 31 
Rapid Intervention at the Vista Hotel, Above Grade 
by John J. Walpole . . . . 38 
Below-Grade Fire Extinguishment and Victim Recovery 
by Kenneth Cerreta . .. . 42 
Operations in Tower 1 
by Donald J. Bums . . . . 49 
Operations in Tower 2 
by Robert Manson . .  . 57 
Search and Rescue: An Overview 
by Ray Downey . . . . . . 63 
At the Bottom of the Crater 
by Kevin Shea . . .  . . . 67 
The Rescue of Firefighter Kevin Shea 
bysteven C. De Rosa . .70 
Above-Grade Tactics and Procedures for Search, Rescue, 
and Evacuation, by John P. O'Connell . .. . 73 
Search Tactics and Procedures Below Grade 
by John P. O'Connell . . 80 
The Thermal Imaging Camera 
by John P. O'Connell . . 84 
The Search Camera 
by John P. O'Connell . .. .85 
Response by Manhattan Dispatchers 
by Herb Eysser . . .. . .87 
EMS Response to the Explosion 
by Zachary Goldfarb and Steven Kuhr . . . . 92 
Forward Triage on the 34th Floor 
byJackJ. Murphy, Jr., andJackJ. Delaney . .. . .111 
Experiences of the Chief Engineer of the Port Authority 
by Eugene Fasullo . . . . 115 
The World Trade Center Complex 
by the Port Authority Risk Management Staff . . . . 118 
Fire Prevention and Building Restoration Activities 
by Dave Corcoran . .. . . 132 
The WTC and National Codes 
by Glenn P. Corbett . . . 141 
Evacuating People with Disabilities 
by Edwina Juillet . . . . . 143 
Vulnerability of Buildings to Blast Damage and Blast-Induced 
Fire Damage, by Ronald J. Massa . .. . 148 
Protecting Buildings Against Terrorism 
byEve Hinman Matthys P. Levy . . .. . 151 
Appendix A: Photographs . . . . . . . 155 

Report from Chief of Department by Anthony L. Fusco 

The City of New York Fire Department has responded hundreds of times to the 
World Trade Center (WTC) since it was first occupied in 1970. These responses 
normally consist of minor fires or false alarms but have included major fires 
such as the one that occurred on February 13, 1975. None of these experiences 
could have prepared us for what was to occur on February %, 1993.

The bombing of the WTC was an event of immense proportions, the largest incident 
ever handled in the City of New York Fire Department's 128-year history also 
complex that it was effectively several major multiple-alarm fires combined into 
one. In terms of the number of fire department units that responded, it was the 
equivalent of a 16-alarm fire.

As the incident commander, I can attest to the fact that it was the 
firefighters' tremendous efforts and courage that brought this incident to a 
successful conclusion.

The statistics are staggering: Six people died and 1,042 were injured. Of those 
injured, 15 received traumatic injuries from the blast itself. Nearly 20 people 
complained of cardiac problems, and nearly 30 pregnant women were rescued. 
Eighty-eight firefighters (one requiring hospitalization), 35 police officers, 
and one EMS worker sustained injuries.

It is estimated that approximately 50,000 people were evacuated from the WTC 
complex, including nearly 25,000 from each of the two towers. Fire alarm 
dispatchers received more than 1,000 phone calls, most reporting victims trapped 
on the upper floors of the towers. Search and evacuation of the towers finally 
were completed some 11 hours after the incident began.

A nitrourea bomb, in excess of 1,000 pounds, with hydrogen cylinders to add 
impact, was detonated in the now-infamous yellow Ryder Econoline van on the B-2 
level of the parking garage, causing massive destruction that spanned seven 
levels, six below grade. The L-shaped blast crater on B-2 at its maximum 
measured 130 feet wide by 150 feet long. The blast's epicenter was under the 
northeast corner of the Vista Hotel.

Anthony L Fusco is chief of department and a 33-year veteran of the City of New 
York (NY) Fire Department. He served as the incident commander for the World 
Trade Center incident. 

Page 1

FDNY ultimately responded to the incident with 84 engine companies, 60 truck 
companies, 28 battalion chiefs, nine deputy chiefs, and five rescue companies 
and 26 other special units (representing nearly 45 percent of the on-duty staff 
of FDNY). The fire department units maintained a presence at the scene for 28 
days.

FEBRUARY 26, 1993 

Snow was falling in lower Manhattan during the noon lunch hour on February 26. 
Temperatures hovered in the mid-20s. At 1218 hours, an explosion rocked the WTC 
complex.

Members of Engine Co. 10 and Ladder Co. 10, located in a firehouse directly 
across from the WTC complex on Liberty Street, felt the rumble of the blast. 
They responded from quarters on a "verbal" alarm, notifying FDNY Manhattan 
dispatchers of the incident and their response.

Simultaneously, Manhattan dispatchers received a flood of calls into their 
office. From initial indications, it was thought that a transformer had exploded 
in the vicinity of the Vista Hotel; however, from the number of phone calls 
received and initial reports from arriving units, the "normal" assignment 
response of two engines, two trucks, and a battalion chief was filled out, 
sending an additional engine company and Rescue Company 1 to Box 69.

First-arriving Engine Co. 10 and Ladder Co. 10 were met with the classic signs 
of a below-grade transformer explosion -heavy black smoke rolling from the WTC 
basement through its garage doors at their location on the West Street side of 
the building. [See following page for diagram of World Trade Center Complex.] 
One thing caught their attention, however -the basement garage doors were 
buckled. The lieutenant of Ladder 10 ordered the buckled garage doors to be 
opened with power saws for access and better ventilation.

With an apparent working fire in progress, Engine 10 transmitted the 10-75 
signal (a working fire). This signal initiated the response of an additional 
battalion chief, the 2nd Battalion, as well as the deputy chief of the 1st 
Division.

Under normal standard operating procedures, first-arriving units proceed to the 
Port Authority (PA) Police station/ fire command station on the B-l level to 
determine the location of the fire. But because of the damage, this could not be 
done. In addition, Engine l0/ Ladder 10 and the 1st Battalion are equipped with 
transmitting radios set to Port Authority

Page 2 

World Trade Center Complex 

1 World Trade Center -11O-story office tower 772-2-28-94-3 
2 World Trade Center -110-story office tower 
3 World Trade Center -22-story Vista Hotel 
4 World Trade Center -9-story offlce building 
5 World Trade Center -9-story office building 
6 World Trade Center -8-story Customs House 
7 World Trade Center -47-story office building 

Police frequencies. Members entered the building through the garage ramps: They 
encountered people who were evacuating, several of whom were injured. Once 
inside, they immediately knew this was not a transformer fire-the damage was too 
great. A major explosion had occurred in the garage.

Chief John Casey of the 1st Battalion also was becoming aware that this was not 
a transformer problem. The PA Police radio in his vehicle

Page 3 

was reporting an explosion, and Engine 10 confirmed this by reporting heavy 
damage in the garage. Upon arrival, he noted the heavy smoke issuing from the 
garage level and immediately transmitted the l0-76 signal (a working high-rise 
fire) at 12: 24 p. m. This brought one additional engine company, two additional 
ladder companies, Rescue Co. 3, the Field Communications Unit (FieldCorn), the 
Mask Service Unit (MSU), and Engine Co. 3 as the High-Rise Unit. Haz Mat 1 also 
responded.

Two additional boxes (9031 and 9032) were transmitted in conjunction with the 
l0-76 signal to bring additional units to the scene because of potential (yet 
typical) traffic problems during the daytime. These units came from Brooklyn, 
bringing an additional engine, truck, and battalion chief through the Brooklyn 
Battery Tunnel and another engine, truck, and battalion chief over the Manhattan 
Bridge.

>From all indications, the explosion and resultant fire appeared to be located 
under the Vista Hotel. Chief Casey assumed command and established his command 
post in front of the hotel on West Street. Almost immediately after his arrival, 
he received reports that the Tower 1 lobby was filling with smoke and that 
people here trapped below grade. He transmitted a second alarm for Box 69 at 12: 
27 p. m. (due to problems developing in the Vista Hotel) and a third alarm for 
Box 69 (problems developing in Tower 1) at 12: 30 p. m.

FDNY has assigned specific box numbers for specific significant buildings. In 
the case of the WTC, Box 8084 is assigned to Tower 1 and Box 8087 to Tower 2. 
Since this incident originated at the Vista Hotel, the street box was 
transmitted initially. As the incident grew and it became apparent that the 
towers were involved, the specific 8084 and 8087 boxes were transmitted. 
Dispatchers at the Manhattan Dispatchers Office began to receive a flood of 
calls regarding smoke problems and trapped people in Tower 1. Therefore, they 
transmitted an initial alarm for Box 8084 at 12: 29 p. m.

Deputy Chief Robert Beier arrived and attempted to gain access to the fire 
command station on the B-l level. Besides finding the garage full of smoke, 
Beier was told by PA Police that the fire command station had been badly 
damaged. Minute by minute, the incident escalated exponentially. He transmitted 
a fourth alarm for Box 69 at 12: 37 p. m., realizing that a large portion of the 
WTC complex was involved in the incident. Beier was now receiving a constant 
stream of reports of trapped people in Tower 1. He dispatched companies to Tower 
1 and the below-grade areas as soon as they arrived, attempting to ration them 
evenly. A second alarm for Box 8084 was transmitted at 12: 39 p. m. by

Page 4 

Deputy Assistant Chief Kenneth Cerreta, the Manhattan south commander, who 
arrived shortly after Deputy Chief Beier and assumed command.

My pager began beeping incessantly for each additional alarm--this was "The Big 
One." I responded from headquarters in Brooklyn, as did several other staff 
officers.

By now, the battalion and deputy chiefs at the scene began to comprehend the 
magnitude of the incident. A major fire was burning below grade. People were 
injured and trapped by the explosion. Communications were lost in the WTC 
complex Smoke was contaminating Tower 1 and the Vista Hotel. A major 
extinguishment and rescue scenario was unfolding. [See building diagram 
including below-grade levels on following page.]

Deputy Assistant Chief Cerreta was receiving numerous reports of smoke problems 
in Tower 1 and dispatched a fire company to investigate this specific problem. 
They reported a heavy smoke condition in the lobby and contamination of vertical 
shafts, including the stairways and elevators. Occupants were self-evacuating, 
and some were breaking windows on the upper floors. Assistant Chief Donald 
Burns, chief of operations, arrived shortly after from Fire Department 
Headquarters and went directly to Tower 1, establishing a sector command post at 
that location.

I arrived at the command post at 12: 48 hours. I could see smoke pouring out of 
the parking garage doors of the Vista Hotel. I also noted that the lobby windows 
of Tower 1 were blackened with smoke.

Cerreta briefed me on what information was known. He, Beier, and I discussed 
their size-up. Reports of a transformer explosion had been given over the 
department radio, but this had not yet been confirmed. The only known facts were 
that an explosion had occurred, people were injured, fire was burning on a lower 
level (or levels), and voluminous amounts of smoke were being produced, with 
three very large buildings affected.

Deputy Chief Steven De Rosa of the 3rd Division had been directed to establish 
sector command of the Vista Hotel -I was concerned about the life hazard 
directly above the explosion/ fire area. After my own quick size-up, I asked 
Deputy Assistant Chief Cerreta if he could try to determine the extent of the 
operation, exactly what was burning, and what had occurred; he left the command 
post with that mission.

Very shortly thereafter, Chief Burns reported to me that huge volumes of smoke 
were entering Tower 1 and that he believed the wall or

Page 5 

Blast Damage 

partition separating this tower from the fire area was blown out and the smoke 
movement could not be stopped. It was readily apparent, even at this early 
stage, that a major commitment of personnel would be required. I transmitted a 
fifth alarm for Box 69 at 12: 54 p. m.

I contacted Chief Cerreta and directed him to abandon his reconnaissance mission 
and take command of fire extinguishment operations below grade. It was very 
clear to me that without the ability to control the smoke, the fire had to be 
extinguished as quickly as possible. Fire extinguishment would be the key to 
stabilizing the incident and protecting lives in the buildings above. As units 
arrived in response to the additional alarms, they were dispatched to sectors 
needing additional help.

A FIREFIGHTER MISSING 

At about the same time that Chief Burns advised me of the missing wall in the 
Vista Hotel, Assistant Chief Ralph Palmer, who with Assistant Chief Eugene 
Dockter had assumed command of the Vista Hotel sector, reported that a 
firefighter was missing. It was believed that he had fallen in a large hole 
(this turned out to be the explosion crater).

This became a primary concern. Deputy Chief De Rosa, Battalion Chief Richard 
Rewkowski, Squad One, one rescue company, two ladder companies, and three engine 
companies ultimately were devoted to this operation. Later, it was determined 
that Firefighter Kevin Shea of Rescue 1, attempting to reach a trapped victim, 
had fallen into the crater. He would require major surgery that very day to 
treat his injuries.

The command post was now receiving reports of smoke in Tower 2 and that people 
were self-evacuating and were trapped in elevators. Deputy Chief Robert Manson 
and Deputy Chief Joseph Mills established sector command at Tower 2.

INCIDENT COMMAND 

With Tower 2 command established, the framework for command and control was in 
place: The situation was divided into three primary sectors-Tower 1, Tower 2, 
and the Vista Hotel, and two subsectors-Firefighter Shea rescue and below grade 
extinguishment and search. Later, additional sectors would be established to 
ensure search of all complex buildings and the concourse area.

The sector commanders, in effect, ran their own operations. These chiefs split 
up their areas of responsibility into manageable parts so that

Page 7 

subsectors and sub-subsectors were controlled by chief officers. Each sector 
reported its progress, problems, and needs to the command post, and the command 
post would provide necessary personnel and equipment, develop strategy, and 
implement same through sector commands. In this way, we attempted to operate 
with reasonable assurance that personnel accountability and safety, as well as 
fulfillment of operational needs, could be achieved while command strategy was 
implemented.

>From my perspective as incident commander, keeping track of units and status 
was a major undertaking. I utilized the FieldCorn Unit's command board to record 
unit positions. Two chiefs and the officer of the FieldCorn Unit assisted in 
this effort. Members of the FieldCorn Unit established field headquarters, 
monitored radio and portable radio communications, transmitted progress reports, 
and maintained a logistics board. Logistics and staging were huge undertakings, 
and First Deputy Commissioner (now Acting Commissioner) William Feehan directed 
logistics while Deputy Assistant Chief Donald Ruland handled staging for the 
incredible number of units already on the scene and still arriving.

I assigned Deputy Assistant Chief Elsworth Hughes as liaison officer. The 
command post was congested with representatives from many different agencies, 
including the city's Office of Emergency Management (the citywide disaster task 
force); PA Police; New York Police Department; New York City EMS; PA management, 
engineering, and risk management; Consolidated Edison (Con Ed, a local power 
utility); the Department of Environmental Protection; and many others. Fire 
department members in many cases worked closely with personnel from other 
agencies. For example, they worked with the local power utility to conduct gas 
shutoffs; worked with the Interstate Transportation Department to survey PATH 
train tracks on B 6; worked with various agencies to establish policy and 
procedures for potential asbestos release; and, most notably, worked with police 
and EMS personnel to effect safe rescues and give medical treatment.

With a constant barrage of people trying to gain access to our command post and 
the snowy weather conditions, it was decided that a more secure location was 
needed. A large tent was obtained and set up, and the command post was moved 
there. This tent provided shelter as well as isolation of the command post.

A major detriment to our ability to strengthen control of the incident was fire 
department on-scene communications. Communications were a serious problem from 
the outset. With 156 units and 31 chiefs operating at the height of this 
incident, try to imagine how difficult it was

Page 8 

Typical Sector Command Post -FDNY 

Significant Aspects of Command Structure 

to gain control of the portable-radio operations frequency. Two command channels 
and one tactical channel were used. In many cases, runners were sent by a sector 
commander to communicate with the incident commander.

Generally, the problems were caused by one or more of the following factors: 

the number of resources using channels; 
not enough channels for operational areas; 
distance problems -lost messages; 
construction of building interrupted signals; and 
the inability to contact other agencies. 

Fireground communications have become a major concern of FDNY, and several 
initiatives are underway to enhance communications.

Many workers in the twin towers had access to operating telephones. More than 
1,000 calls would be made to 911 (an office within the police department 
communications center that routes fire calls to the fire department) or the FDNY 
Manhattan Dispatchers Office. In fact, calls were received by the four other 
boroughs' dispatch offices as well as fire department headquarters in Brooklyn.

As we received these distress calls through the FieldCom Unit, they were passed 
to the command post. Every call had to be acted on. I and my staff at the 
command post determined how to prioritize the calls based on emergency/ severity 
and available resources.

THE PICTURE BECOMES CLEARER 

While I worked to establish command and control, reports from sector commanders 
started to fill out the entire picture, and I began to realize the full 
magnitude of the incident. Within a short time I knew that

the complex's fire alarm and public address systems were out of service;

the PA Police Department fire command station was out of service;

the complex's standpipe systems was damaged due to destroyed piping on the lower 
levels but was effective in some areas for some units;

Page 11 

the automatic sprinkler system was out of service in the area of the explosion 
and fire;

significant portions of the electric power to Tower 1, Tower 2, and the Vista 
Hotel were out of service;

emergency generators, located in the B-6 level, had their domestic water cooling 
lines broken by the blast. They ran for 20 minutes, then shut down because of 
overheating;

a plaster ceiling of the PATH train station on the B-5 level had collapsed due 
to the explosion;

smoke was moving into many areas of the Vista Hotel, Tower 1, and Tower 2;

rescuers were removing numerous injured from both above and below in the 
complex;

a major evacuation had to be accomplished -once 50,000 people decided to self-
evacuate, there was no turning back, not without a working communication system; 
and

the potential number of people trapped in elevators was great, and my suspicion 
was substantiated by the number of elevator rescues that already had been 
achieved.

Armed with this information, I expanded our response to fill growing strategic 
needs. I transmitted a simultaneous third alarm, calling 40 additional engine 
and ladder companies from Brooklyn, a "borough call." This was done to avoid 
stripping Manhattan of units and also was a quick way of dispatching a large 
number of units to a location. Over the course of the next few hours, several 
additional alarms and special calls would be transmitted to meet the ever-
increasing demand for manpower.

No mutual aid was requested or called for by FDNY. Some New Jersey as well as 
upstate New York units responded with equipment and assistance, but they did 
this on their own and were not utilized by the fire department.

Page 12 

OPERATIONS 

Within one hour of my arrival on the scene, the rescue of Firefighter Shea was 
completed and the fires in the below-grade area were being brought under 
control. Our focus narrowed to primary search of the below-grade levels (we had 
reports of still-missing occupants); primary search and evacuation of the towers 
and the hotel; and an assessment of the damage and stability of the below-grade 
areas, such as it would impact the safety of personnel still operating there.

Damage/ hazard assessment. Lights were brought into the below-grade areas. 
Damage from the blast was extensive. The B-2 level surrounding ground zero was 
completely destroyed. Piping and conduit were snapped like twigs. Masonry walls 
and steel-reinforced concrete flooring were blown apart. Cars were strewn about 
like toys. Steel columns were shocked but held.

A chief was directed to secure and define the stability of the collapse area. He 
was to accomplish the assessment with Port Authority engineers. The explosion 
severed four of the even operating electrical feeders. This had the effect of 
disrupting all fire protection systems and also causing sporadic power loss 
throughout the complex. For reasons too numerous to mention, power shutoff by 
the FDNY command post was never requested. All train traffic in the area vas 
stopped, and the gas to the complex was shut down. Members were advised to 
operate cautiously at all below-grade areas. For reasons unknown to me, power 
was completely removed from the complex at around 1: 30 p. m.

It was determined that operations below grade could continue within reasonable 
safety limits, but the potential for secondary collapse was ever present.

Below grade. With such extensive damage to the below-grade levels-debris was 
piled several feet high about the blast area-primary and secondary searches were 
very difficult and dangerous. Chief Cerreta supervised the search effort. 
Searches were conducted under the protection of charged hoselines.

Port Authority personnel assisted by establishing a probable victim location in 
occupied work areas on the B-2 level under the Vista Hotel and Tower 1. The 
blast destroyed a dividing wall between the garage and this work area 
(demolished, it was later found, by a steel support beam hurled through it with 
the unimaginable force created by the blast). A search first

Page 13 

was concentrated in this area, and four fatalities were located and removed by 
FDNY to a temporary morgue established in the Vista Hotel. Five of the six 
fatalities in this incident were removed within the first two hours. (One victim 
was found by FDNY on a driveway ramp early in the incident.) The sixth victim 
was located in rubble by police personnel during their investigation 17 days 
later.

Members removed 16 civilians trapped under the debris in a locker room near the 
epicenter of the blast; located and rescued civilians from a demolished room 
suspended precariously over the crater; rescued victims who fell into the 
crater; and conducted very thorough, exhausting primary and secondary searches 
of the blast area, removing scores of injured.

In total, 71 companies were utilized for extinguishment, rescue, primary and 
secondary searches, recoveries, and logistics support on the below-grade levels.

Above grade. The large quantities of smoke that had been generated prior to the 
fire's knockdown became a major operational factor. Due to the destroyed 
elevator shaft doors at the B-2 level, the hole in the Vista Hotel meeting room 
with the blown-out glass partition wall between the Vista Hotel and Tower 1, and 
doors being opened on all floors by people evacuating -and with the stack effect 
working -most floors and all stairways of Tower 1 and the Vista Hotel became 
charged with smoke. Tower 2 had a smoke condition but to a lesser degree. The 
smoke condition in Tower 1 was the worst of the three buildings above grade.

The initial commitment of above-grade resources was devoted to the Vista Hotel. 
This 22-story hotel, in and of itself, would under normal firefighting 
operations be a major undertaking. At this incident, it would be handled in a 
most expedient manner (assisted by the time of day when many people had checked 
out and others had yet to check in) by the building's fire safety directors and 
our firefighters and fire officers. The building was searched within 
approximately one hour. Units were directed from the Vista Hotel sector to 
assist in Tower 1 and Tower 2.

Search and evacuation of the towers became the greatest challenges. Stairways 
were massively congested. Many occupants could not make the descent under their 
own power. Pregnant women, older people, people with heart conditions, and 
people with physical disabilities all required fire department assistance. 
Firefighters carried people down the stairs some 60 floors or more via stokes 
baskets, stair chairs, wheelchairs, and office chairs. Groups of children had to 
be escorted to street level -one group

Page 14 

of children from the 92nd floor. Resuscitators and first aid were required for 
many occupants. 

Primary and secondary searches of every floor, each 40,000 square feet, were 
required. Forcible entry was performed to gain entry onto floors and office 
spaces. Adding to our difficulties was a reported "bomb scare" on the 65th floor 
of Tower 1, for which firefighters stretched a line off the standpipe and 
supported police efforts.

As challenging as stairway evacuation and floor search were, the most difficult 
part of this operation from the standpoint of strategy and tactics was locating 
and searching the 99 elevators in each of the towers and the 12 in the Vista 
Hotel. Many elevators were in blind shafts and between floors. Identification of 
car location was difficult and time-consuming. Many walls had to be breached to 
gain entry into elevator cars. Literally hundreds of people were trapped in 
elevators when the power went down. In one case, 10 elevator occupants in Tower 
1 were found unconscious, lying on the car floor -they were resuscitated and 
safely turned over to EMS personnel. In another case, 72 schoolchildren in Tower 
2 were rescued from a car stuck in a blind shaft.

Once outside the building, victims had to contend with falling glass broken by a 
few occupants on upper floors. This was a real problem over which the fire 
department had no control. Some of this glass breaking was due to erroneous 
information disseminated by the media, encouraging people in the towers to take 
such action.

An unusual aspect of this incident was that a large elevator company has offices 
within the WTC towers. This company had several maintenance technicians working 
within the building at the time of the explosion. Knowing that people were 
trapped in the elevators, these technicians early in the incident began the 
process of manually moving the stalled cabs to the tower lobbies, but not all of 
their well-intentioned efforts were communicated to FDNY, at least initially. 
Had better interagency communications existed, elevator searches could have been 
better coordinated with the fire department.

More than eight million square feet of space were searched in Tower 1, Tower 2, 
and the Vista Hotel. Tower 1 required the largest commitment of above-grade 
resources. When other sectors began reducing units, they were told to report to 
the command post. We would reassign them as necessary unless the members were 
fatigued, in which case they would be relieved. During the entire course of the 
incident, 55 companies operated in Tower 1, 27 in Tower 2, and 20 in the Vista 
Hotel.


Page 15 

Operations continued well into the night. At 11: 45 p. m., the last elevator was 
located and the people removed. They had been in the elevator for more than 11 
hours.

Change of tour relief would be handled by the transmission of additional alarms. 
Some members, due to the fact that they had climbed to the upper floors of the 
towers, could not be relieved. It took hours to reach the upper floors of the 
two 110-story buildings, and of necessity, these members would keep working 
until they could make their way down the buildings, performing secondary 
searches as they did so.

POWER RESTORATION 

Power restoration was critical, not only for the trapped occupants and 
firefighters but for other reasons as well. The New York Telephone Company had a 
major telephone exchange at the WTC complex. Besides providing telephone service 
to a portion of Manhattan, it also provided service for the air traffic control 
of the three major regional airports.

This telephone equipment had emergency generator backup, but the generator 
cooling lines had also been compromised by the blast, as had the PA's generators 
for the WTC complex. Fortunately, battery backup was also provided and kept the 
telephone system running until power could be restored.

Power began to be restored around 6 p. m. and continued until midnight, when 
most of the branch circuits in Towers 1 and 2 had been restored. Power 
restoration concentrated on the elevator banks first, with other sections of the 
buildings following.

THE MORNING AFTER 

FDNY met with high-level PA officials at the WTC early Monday morning after the 
blast. FDNY advised them and assisted them on the restoration of fire protection 
systems (standpipes, sprinklers, etc.). We had engine companies hooked up to 
fire department connections, ready to supply the system if needed.

Our assistance also included establishing what minimum level of protection would 
be needed before reoccupancy was permitted. Our fire prevention bureau worked 
very closely with the PA to get the buildings "back on line" as soon as 
possible.

We would maintain a presence at the scene until March 25, 1993.

Page 16 

LESSONS LEARNED AND REINFORCED 

1. As many incidents throughout history have shown, fire extinguishment is the 
most effective weapon against smoke generation and, therefore. smoke migration.

The decision to attack the basement fires in the initial stages of the incident 
was the most important decision of the incident in that hundreds maybe thousands 
of lives were saved due to timely extinguishment of the fires.

Stretching handlines into the below-grade garage areas of a large public 
building after a bomb explosion is a challenge for firefighters. Traditional 
water sources may not be available or used to capacity (FDNY staged a marine 
unit to draft out of the Hudson River and supply engine companies, had it been 
necessary); standpipes may be damaged. Quick and easy routes to the seat of the 
fire will not be available. Units may have to knock down numerous fires (such as 
fires in individual burning vehicles) before they reach their objective. The 
volume of fire (depending on the combustibles in the explosion space) and the 
need to protect engine companies from possible fire dangers (such as ruptured 
gas tanks, secondary collapse and fire, etc.) dictate the use of handlines that 
can produce flows greater than 200 gpm.

2. This was the largest building evacuation ever recorded. The "defend-in-place" 
strategy did not exist. Building evacuation and human behavior in this incident 
will be studied for years to come, hopefully yielding new lessons appropriate 
for inclusion in building codes.

3. This incident exemplifies the classic high-rise stack effect -vertical upward 
movement of smoke and heated gases due to the cold temperatures outside and warm 
temperatures inside.

Upward smoke movement was enhanced by the breaching of the Vista Hotel meeting 
room floor/ glass wall as well as breaches in the bottom of elevator and stair 
shafts. The force of the bomb itself also helped to propel the smoke upward. 
Finally, people opening doors in stair shafts allowed smoke to migrate from 
floor to stair shaft or vice versa.

4. The WTC is a well-constructed complex. In spite of major damage, it withstood 
the effects of a terrorist bomb. At the time of the explosion, it exceeded some 
local building and

Page 17 

fire code requirements but did not comply with others. An effort should be made 
through legislation to enforce all local codes in all structures. If the fire 
department is to fight the fire, the fire department should enforce the codes. 
This will improve and allow for knowledge and standardization of fire protection 
features.

WTC management was very cooperative in working with FDNY and other agencies 
following the explosion and has made numerous enhancements so that code 
compliance has been achieved and, in some cases, exceeded. Enhancements include 
changes in the number of fire command stations and in the organization and 
training of fire safety personnel within the complex; communications upgrades, 
particularly a backup wireless communications system and tertiary, battery-
powered emergency stairway and elevator lighting; enhanced provisions for smoke 
evacuation from stairways and elevators; a better means for determining the 
location of elevators in blind shafts; methods to prevent interruption of 
emergency generator power; and many others.

The importance of being able to communicate with building occupants cannot be 
over stressed. Many of the evacuation problems that existed at this incident 
would have been greatly reduced had some form of communication been available.

5. Fire department communications were severely stressed at this oneration.

Department communications capabilities must be established so that they can 
handle the largest of emergencies that could occur in the jurisdiction. Our 
standard portable radio tactical frequency was overloaded and ineffective. The 
same problems were encountered with the command channels. A trunked 800 MHz 
system would have achieved much better results; FDNY currently is in the process 
of developing such a system. In addition, equipping division and battalion 
chiefs with cellular telephones would have made it possible to communicate with 
units operating on upper floors.

The FDNY incident command system depends largely on its FieldCorn Unit. This 
unit is expected to transmit and receive critical information on the fireground. 
In the WTC incident, this unit experienced an overload situation. The importance 
of this unit requires that it be amply staffed with highly trained and 
experienced officers and personnel.

We must continually seek improvements to our equipment. A specific tone alert 
for portable radios signaling all radio transmissions to

Page 18 

cease would be invaluable, allowing a commander or member to gain control of the 
network and transmit a mayday or urgent message.

Human message relays were an important method of communication at this incident.

6. Controlling a large-scale incident is beyond the canabilities of any one 
individual.

The incident command system must be utilized and expanded to ensure adequate 
span of control and personnel accountability/ safety. The system must be 
flexible and adaptable. The incident command system was expanded in proportion 
to the size of the incident. The incident commander must take steps to manage 
the large-scale incident through well-positioned sector and subsector officers.

The incident commander at a major incident has a dual problem: information 
overload -too much information coming in and very little or not enough time to 
evaluate and act in a timely fashion -and too many chiefs and officials 
demanding attention. People will get frustrated when they feel they have 
important information that is not acted on immediately. This can be overcome by 
assigning an additional staff chief of appropriate rank to assist the incident 
commander. This chief should accept the reports and make the IC aware of them in 
a timely fashion and in priority order.

Another position should be created to handle agencies that will report to the 
command post offering assistance, be it information, equipment, or other 
resources -and there were many such offers at the WTC incident. A high-ranking 
officer should be stationed at the command post to record all this information 
and develop a system whereby these parties could be recalled at the appropriate 
time. People came to the command post with generators, pumps, and offers of 
expert help in one trade or another, but when the time came that we could have 
utilized that assistance often they had left the area and could not be found.

The portable command post (PCP) given to each division is an excellent control 
tool for a sector commander. However, lack of highly visible incident command 
post facilities proved to be a disadvantage at this incident. The fire 
department is currently pursuing more "operational friendly," visible command 
equipment that will be the focal point for other agencies at operations where 
the fire department is the lead agency/ incident commander.

Page 19 

7. The fire department does not operate in a vacuum. Assistance from and 
interaction with other agencies are essential. Gaining and maintaining 
cooperation from and coordination with other agencies can be a problem; in this 
incident, interagency protocols were violated on several occasions. For example, 
during this incident, it had been reported that several people were trapped on 
the Tower 2 roof. A few members of the police department stepped outside the 
protocol of the ICS and conducted an operation to remove these people via 
helicopter.

To be effective, interagency protocols require routine drills. During drills, 
friendships will be established and maintained, and a deeper understanding of 
the other agencies' roles will lead to better interaction during agencies. A 
better understanding of the incident command system is required by all city 
emergency responders. With thorough knowledge of the benefits of the ICS, there 
will be less reluctance on the part of all agencies to use it.

8. Firefighter rest and rehabilitation will be difficult to achieve in 
onerations in which it can take as long as three or four hours to reach an 
objective.

Make every effort to establish "R & R posts" at key points throughout large 
buildings.

9. Elevator search and rescue was a major challenge in this incident. Many 
elevators were stuck in blind shafts when the power went down, and elevator 
recall to the sky lobbies (the transfer floors for other elevators serving upper 
floors) was a slow process. Identification of elevator car locations in the 
blind shafts was especially difficult in Tower 1 because the shafts were charged 
with smoke. Several lessons were learned with respect to elevator search, 
including:

-Elevators on floors with public assembly areas (observation deck, restaurants, 
etc.) should be a search and evacuation priority. They may have heavy occupancy; 
in one case, for example, 72 schoolchildren and teachers were stuck in one 
elevator.

-An elevator liaison officer should be designated for coordinating/ controlling 
elevator companies.

-Coordination with elevator personnel is essential. Interagency pre-planning 
with respect to elevator control is called for.

Page 20 

10. A public information officer is essential. The fire department must ensure 
that TV and radio reports are accurate, especially for people on the upper 
floors of high-rise buildings who are taking their cues from these reports. Many 
so-called "experts" on high-rise fire operations, safety, evacuation procedures, 
etc. were sought by the media, and some of these individuals supplied erroneous 
information that could have resulted in further operational problems. One noted 
TV personality encouraged occupants to vent the tower windows by breaking glass; 
one willing viewer, it has been reported, obliged by throwing a fax machine out 
the window.

The primary thrust of the public information officer is to present factual 
information and messages to the media on a timely basis, but this officer also 
serves to demonstrate to the public that its lead agency in a fire/ rescue 
emergency has the knowledge, ability, and resources to control the situation. As 
it was, the fire department put itself in a "react" mode concerning media 
communications.

11. A major disaster committee or task force should be developed to hold 
hearings and investigate all facets of a major incident to determine the impact 
on fire department onerations.

The task force should include members from operations, fire prevention, support 
services, communications, the legal division, and any others deemed appropriate 
by the fire commissioner.

Page 21 

Complex Overview by Port Authority Risk Management Staff 

The World Trade Center (WTC) is owned and operated by the Port Authority (PA) of 
New York and New Jersey. It was developed and constructed by the PA to serve as 
the headquarters for international trade within the New York, New Jersey region. 
The WTC is located on a 16-acre site in lower Manhattan. The complex consists of 
two 110-story office towers (1 and 2 WTC), a 22-story luxury hotel (3 WTC), two 
nine-story office buildings (4 and 5 WTC), an eight-story U. S. Customs House (6 
WTC), and a 47-story office building (7 WTC). All seven buildings exit onto a 
five-acre plaza as well as onto the surrounding city streets. The complex is 
bound by West Street to the west, Vesey and Barclay streets to the north, Church 
Street to the east, and Liberty Street to the south. The mall at the WTC, 
located directly below the plaza, is the largest enclosed shopping mall in lower 
Manhattan, as well as the main interior pedestrian circulation level for the 
complex.

The WTC complex contains more than 12 million square feet of rentable office 
space. Each of the 110 floors is approximately one acre (40,000 square feet) in 
size and is not obstructed by columns, to allow maximum flexibility in office 
layouts. Tower 1 (North Tower) is 1,368 feet tall and has a 351-foot commercial 
television antenna mast mounted on top. Tower 2 (South Tower) is 1,362 feet 
tall. 3 WTC, the Vista Hotel, rises 265 feet above street level and contains 821 
guest rooms. 4 WTC, also called the Southeast Plaza Building, rises nine 
stories, is 119 feet tall, and has 600,000 rentable square feet. 5 WTC, the 
Northeast Plaza Building, is nine stories, 119 feet tall, and has 700,000 square 
feet available for rental. 6 WTC is the NY/ NJ metro region consolidated Customs 
House and is eight stories, 130 feet tall, and contains 800,000 square feet of 
space. 7 WTC is 634 feet high and has 47 floors of office space. The complex has 
256 elevators and 72 escalators.

Some 60,000 people work in the WTC complex, and another 90,000 business and 
leisure visitors pass through the center each day. There are more than 450 firms 
and organizations represented, including trade and foreign government 
organizations engaged in such international commerce activity as import, export, 
freight forwarding, custom house brokerage, international banking and finance, 
insurance, and transportation. The WTC also is the Manhattan headquarters for 
the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Page 22 

The complex is served by several modes of mass transportation. The New York City 
Transit Authority provides direct subway service to the WTC by way of the IRT, 
BMT, and IND lines; bus service is available from several locations on 
surrounding streets. Port Authority Trans Hudson, or PATH, provides direct rail 
service with Hoboken, Jersey City, Harrison, and Newark, New Jersey. Ferry 
service also is available from Hoboken to the nearby World Financial Center.

Page 23 

Blast Damage by Steven C. De Rosa 

The effects of the blast on the World Trade Center were severe. 

PLAZA LEVEL (three levels above the explosion) 

A 100-square-foot section of concrete was cracked and lifted. 

CONCOURSE LEVEL (two levels above the explosion) 

A 400-square-foot hole was opened in a meeting/ dining room near the Liberty 
Ballroom of the Vista Hotel. 

Glass windows, the partition between the Vista Hotel and Tower at the concourse 
level, were blown out from the explosion, creating a pathway for heavy smoke 
migration from the Vista Hotel to Tower 1.

A section of plaster-and-lath ceiling above the hole collapsed. 

B-1 LEVEL (one level above the explosion) 

A 5,000-square-foot hole was opened on the ramp leading to the parking garage 
below. 

The Port Authority command/ communications center was heavily damaged and 
rendered inoperable. 

Walls and ceilings were heavily damaged. 

Elevators were damaged.  

Seven steel columns were damaged and left without lateral support. 

B-2 LEVEL (ground zero) 

An L-shaped crater, approximately 130 by 150 feet at its maximum points, was 
opened, collapsing reinforced concrete and debris onto levels below.

At least nine steel columns were heavily damaged and left without lateral 
support. 

Many walls collapsed, including a concrete block wall adjacent to the blast area 
that collapsed onto and killed five WTC personnel. 

Doors/ enclosure walls of Tower 1 elevator shafts were heavily damaged. 

Some 200 vehicles were fully or partially destroyed, and many were on fire. 

Primary electrical power feeder lines were damaged. 

Stairway doors and shaft walls were heavily damaged. 

Some standpipes were damaged. 

The sprinkler system in the immediate blast area was destroyed. 

Steven C De Rosa a 29-year veteran of the City of New York (NY) Fire Department, 
is deputy chief of Division 3 in midtown Manhattan, where he has served for 10 
years He has developed numerous procedures for the department including high-
rise tactics.

Page 24 

B-3, B-4, B-5, B-6 LEVELS (below the explosion) 

 Debris from the blast traveled through a three-level architectural opening 
(spanning B 3 through B 5) and crashed down on refrigeration equipment on B 5.

 A ceiling of the PATH train station on the B-5 level collapsed. 

A 24-inch-diameter water supply pipe from the Hudson River to the air-
conditioning chillers, as well as other smaller refrigeration/ air-conditioning 
and domestic water pipes, were ruptured.

Domestic water lines to the emergency generators were damaged on the B-6 level. 

Page 25 

The Materials Involved in the WTC Bomb by Frank L. Fire 

As reported in news accounts of the WTC bombing, it appears nitrourea was used 
as the bomb's base and cylinders of hydrogen were used to increase the magnitude 
of the a explosion. The following is a brief description of the materials 
involved.

Nitrourea, a white, crystalline powder, is a Class A explosive. It also is known 
as m-nitrocarbamide, N-nitrocarbonide, 1-nitrourea, and N-nitrourea. It is a 
high explosive that presents a severe explosion hazard and is stable until 
detonated. Although some references say 2nitrourea is sensitive to heat and 
shock, the greater likelihood is that it is stable; otherwise, it might be too 
dangerous to transport by truck (or van).

The power of nitrourea is similar to that of trinitrotoluene (TNT) and picric 
acid. (TNT and picric acid are used as reference points because TNT is referred 
to as the "standard' explosive in the United States and picric acid the 
"standard" explosive in Great Britain.) Nitrourea produces about 90.5 percent of 
the gas volume of TNT when detonated and has slightly more than three percent 
more relative power than TNT. It produces about 97.7 percent of the gas volume 
of picric acid and has three percent less relative power. Its caloric value 
(power as described by the number of joules of energy per kilogram of weight) is 
34 percent greater than TNT's and 19 percent greater than picric acids.

When compared with ammonium nitrate, nitrourea has about 13 percent less gas 
volume, about 38 percent more relative power, and about 47 percent more caloric 
value.

Hydrogen is a highly flammable, nontoxic, colorless, odorless, and tasteless 
gas. Its flammable range is from four to 75 percent, the second widest range of 
any common flammable gas. With such a wide range, it is easily ignited. The 
flame from burning hydrogen has a very high heat content -its flame temperature 
is 3,700 OF. Hydrogen bums with an almost invisible flame, converting all energy 
into heat energy.

Frank L. Fire is the vice president of marketing for Americhem Inc. in Cuyahoga 
Falls, Ohio. He's an instructor of hazardous-materials chemistry at the 
University of Akron as well as an adjunct instructor of haz mats at the National 
Fire Academy. Fire is the author of The Common Sense Approach to Hazardous 
Materials and an accompanying study guide, Combustibilitv of Plastics, and 
Chemical Data Notebook A User's Manual, published by Fire Engineering Books. 

Page 26 

Control of Elevator Operations by Steven C. De Rosa 

Many people were trapped in elevators when primary and secondary power was lost. 
World Trade Center staff stated that 45 occupied elevator cars were stuck, many 
in blind shafts. The damage to the WTC Command Center made it impossible to 
communicate with most of the stalled elevator cars, and the sheer size of the 
removal operation was initially overwhelming.

Three agencies were involved in the removal operation -the fire department, Port 
Authority Police, and the city police department. Elevator maintenance personnel 
(who had offices in the WTC complex) played an important role in this removal 
process. Coordination of these operations proved difficult because it was 
difficult to determine the location of the elevators in the shafts. It took more 
than 11 hours to free the last trapped occupants.

It is unlikely that most incident commanders will be confronted with extrication 
problems of this size-each tower had more than 99 elevators -but a significant 
high-rise fire may require actions including the following:

Designate a sector elevator control officer and assign fire department personnel 
as needed. This officer will coordinate and supervise the extrication 
operations. When multiple agencies are involved, the fire department should 
maintain control by requesting radio-equipped agency representatives to work 
with the elevator control officer.

Enlist the assistance of building engineers, elevator personnel, or maintenance 
personnel to determine the number of elevators and location status. 

Elevator cars stalled in blind shafts are difficult to locate without the help 
of the elevator control panel. Power loss will render most identification 
systems inoperable. A back-up battery-powered car identification system should 
be implemented.

Work with officials of exempt government buildings to design fire protection 
systems that comply with local codes. The blind shafts in the WTC extended 78 
stories. Firefighters had to open the shaft every five floors to locate a car -
it was impossible to see more than six floors into

Page 27 

the blackness. Some local building codes require openings into blind elevator 
shafts at three-floor intervals; this feature was not provided in the case of 
the WTC.

Elevator car extrication must be strictly controlled. Coordination and 
communication with building personnel are essential. Unanticipated emergency 
power restoration can result in severe injuries to rescuers and passengers. 
Building elevator personnel should be taken to each elevator machine room by 
fire department personnel. Once there, circuit breakers supplying power to the 
affected car should be opened to protect both the car occupants and rescue 
personnel.

Brake releases for the elevators also are located in the machine rooms. If power 
is cut off and elevators are stuck, the brake is manually released. Then, if the 
load in the elevator is more than 5,000 pounds, the car will slowly drift down 
to the bottom. If the load is less, the car will drift up.

Page 28 

Command Analysis by Jack McCormack 

With any fire department operation, the organizational structure of command 
expands to meet the needs of the incident. Remember, it is not necessarily the 
size of the incident but its complexity that determines the command structure.

At the inception of the WTC explosion, units arriving at the hotel directed 
their efforts toward the seat of the fire in the parking garage. Simultaneous 
with the aggressive direct attack, units were sent to operate in the hotel 
because of the smoke conditions reported there. As the assessment and size-up 
continued, the magnitude of the incident was realized. The command structure 
expanded to meet the complexity of the problem.

The WTC explosion is a prime example of the reason command structures have the 
flexibility to expand in anticipation of complex developments. As the incident 
commander, Chief Anthony Fusco had to constantly assess the problem, develop 
strategic goals, and ensure that tactical objectives to accomplish those goals 
were achievable with available on-scene resources. Defining the problem requires 
feedback from all areas of the operation. After determining the parameters, the 
strategic goals can be formulated. It is the command structure that allows that 
feedback of information to assist the IC so the strategic goals can be 
established. The goals of each aspect of the operation must support the 16's 
strategic goals, and vice versa.

Complex though the WTC explosion was, the command structure implemented by Chief 
Fusco provided control, supervision, and coordination. It likewise fixed 
accountability for specific tasks necessary to achieve the tactical objectives 
in each sector. Complex operations necessitate a tight span of control to ensure 
the safety of operating members.

The division of command into manageable segments -sectoring-allows for 
adjustments to tactics. For example, as information was received regarding the 
extent of structural damage and the presence of the crater created by the 
explosion, an additional operations sector was created in the

Jack McComack, a 25year veteran of the City of New York (NY) Fire Department, is 
a deputy assistant chief and deputy commander of the borough of Queens. He has 
worked all over Manhattan for 12 of those years, as deputy chief assigned to the 
1st Division in lower Manhattan, executive officer to the chief of department, 
and as battalion chief. 

Page 29 

below-grade area. Evaluations made close to the area of operations provided the 
sector command post and the IC with the information necessary to develop 
strategic goals.

Achievement of multiple tactical tasks requires specific assignments and 
accountability to each subsector and sector. This provides the chain of command 
with the status of the operation: what has been achieved, what has not been 
achieved; what obstacles have been overcome; the resources committed, and where; 
and reserve status.

The chief in charge of any operation, large or small, must maintain a broad 
focus and high visibility -likewise with chiefs responsible for sector commands. 
As a sector officer at the WTC incident, I was well aware of this. Each branch 
or sector operations command post requires a recognizable command post. Ideally, 
the command post should be free of encumbrances. This was not the case in the 
Vista lobby. Numerous units from various departments and agencies passed through 
the area. Control was difficult.

The use of a unit status board was necessary to account for units operating, 
relieved, or staged and is essential at each operations post at multifront 
incidents. It provides a visual view of what the operating structure is and who 
has which area of responsibility. This board should be similar in format to the 
fire department communications unit's status board used by the IC.

Adequate lighting is a must at a command post. When the command post is the 
lobby and the building's power is out, auxiliary sources of light must be 
provided as soon as possible.

When a command post is staffed by a number of chief officers and chief aides, 
there is a need for adequate space to accommodate the number of personnel. 
Control of the command post is essential. Units reporting to a command post can 
overwhelm it. Unless direction is given to stage members away from the command 
post area and it is made clear that only officers report in, confusion and 
interruption of operations will occur.

Page 30 

First Response: Engine 6 Operations Below Grade by Timothy F. Dowling 

The tour at Engine 6 began in a typical fashion on February 26, 1993. No outside 
activities were scheduled, and the four on-duty firefighters regularly assigned 
to Engine 6 were performing maintenance tasks related to equipment, apparatus, 
and quarters. They had been with the department for from six to 12 years.

Also in quarters was an off-duty Engine 6 firefighter who had completed the 
night tour and was talking on the pay phone to a friend who worked on one of the 
upper floors of the World Trade Center Complex. At about 1217 hours, the off-
duty firefighter was told by his friend that the electrical power had failed at 
the WTC and that the building shook. The friend knew that Engine 6 would be 
responding. The firefighter hung up the receiver and shouted, "Get out. 
Something just happened at the World Trade Center!"

When I slid down the pole to the apparatus floor. He told me what he knew and 
asked permission to respond with the unit. I granted permission and directed all 
members, including the off-duty firefighter to gear up a while I notified the 
Manhattan dispatcher that Engine 6 was heading to the WTC.

At the same instant, the teleprinter alarm began to transmit the following: Fill 
out alarm -2nd source. EOO6 EO07 LO10 LOO1 BCOl. Box 0069 -West St. -640' south 
of Vesey St. Incident #181 02/ 26/ 93. 121852. The printout specified a location 
other than that normally given for the WTC. Engine 6 is the second-due engine at 
alarms for the WTC. The fire alarms transmitted for the WTC instruct the 
companies to respond to specific locations, according to the location of the 
reported incident. I directed the engine chauffeur to respond to the location 
given on the teleprinter printout. This was just the beginning of what was to be 
anything but a normal incident.

En route, the department radio reported a possible electrical transformer 
explosion. Engine 6 arrived at the WTC within two minutes -traffic was unusually 
light. A tremendous volume of black and brown

Timothy F. Dowling was a member of the City of New York (NY) Fire Department 
from 1962 until 1993, when he retired. He retired as a firefighter with Engines 
324, 14, and 6; as a lieutenant with Engines 96 and 295; and as a captain of 
Division 3 and Engine 6.

Page 31 

smoke was pushing violently from the street vents and the garage entrance in 
front of the Vista Hotel. 

As we passed under the north pedestrian bridge, which connects the WTC with the 
financial center across West Street, members of the New York/ New Jersey Port 
Authority Police were exiting the B ramp from the B-2 level of the parking 
garage. They stopped us and said there had been an explosion on the B-2 level of 
the parking garage, people were trapped, and numerous fires were burning. They 
also said their knowledge of and experiences with the WTC complex indicated that 
"this was not an electrical transformer fire."

I directed the chauffeur to take a nearby hydrant while I began an initial size-
up. My primary concerns were the conditions, whether we were at the proper 
location for attacking the fires, the collapse potential in the area, and 
conducting a quick surface search for victims while we advanced on the fires.

I directed members, including the chauffeur, down the B ramp for a primary 
search of the immediate area while I conducted my survey. They were about to 
enter the garage when an agent from the United States Secret Service told them 
there was an ammunition storage area on the B-2 level. The question now was, How 
involved were the munitions in this incident? The agent entered the B-2 level 
with Engine 6 and showed me the location of the storage area. Although we 
determined that the ammunition was not part of the fire, we still had to 
consider its presence when planning operations.

The B-2 level was devastated. Dozens of cars were crushed, thrown about, and 
fully involved in fire. Walls and ceilings had collapsed. The piping containing 
electrical wiring was down.

As the firefighters conducted their searches, I moved into the area of 
devastation. There was a heavy smoke condition and a red glow in the distance. 
As I continued my survey, I discovered that the sprinkler system had been 
destroyed. The extent and nature of the damage made it evident that someone had 
exploded a bomb on the B-2 level.

Under normal conditions, we would use 2 l/ 2 inch hoselines from a standpipe 
system when operating in high-rise buildings. Two companies would work together 
to give the units six lengths of 2 l/ 2 inch hose on each line. Not today!

Page 32 

The number of cars burning, the large red glow in the distance, and all the 
rubble and debris present made it necessary to hand-stretch from the apparatus 
in the street. This line would supply a confirmed, continuous source of water. 
The volume of water in the stream would quickly knock down the car fires as the 
firefighters fought their way to the main target -the large, red glow in the 
distance. The reach of the stream would permit them the luxury of operating in 
the safest position they could find while still extinguishing the large body of 
fire awaiting them. Most importantly, the 2 l/ 2-inch hose-line was their link 
to the outside: It would guide them out or, in the worst-case scenario, lead 
responders to them if they became victims.

Quickly returning to the B ramp, I ordered that a 2 l/ 2-inch hoseline be hand-
stretched. The firefighters, meanwhile, had rescued two civilians from the 
collapsed rubble. Both were severely burned, had suffered lacerations, and were 
in shock. Shouting orders while on the run, I raced to the apparatus and 
transmitted the signal "10-45" (victims severely injured and/ or burned) on the 
department radio. The time was 1223 hours.

While the chauffeur was running to the apparatus to begin hooking up to the 
hydrant, he saw EMS ambulances responding down West Street and quickly went into 
the roadway, stopped the ambulances, and requested assistance for the two burned 
victims. With EMS and the police treating the civilians, Engine 6 now was able 
to turn its full attention to the long hand-stretch.

Reentering the garage dragging the uncharged handline, the firefighters began 
the struggle of stretching over the collapsed debris, under the downed pipes, 
and around collapsing walls. During this time, explosions were occurring all 
around them. It took a few moments to realize that the explosions were caused by 
burning car tires and were not secondary bomb explosions -at least they hoped it 
was car tires.

During the stretching of the hose-line, a third victim suddenly appeared out of 
the flames and smoke, startling the firefighters for an instant. One of the 
firefighters moved quickly among the burning cars and under the downed pipes to 
grab the victim, who was heading toward the main fire. After turning the third 
victim over to EMS, the firefighters returned to continue with the hand-stretch 
of the hoseline.

Page 33 

ENGINE 7 ASSISTS 

Engine 7 arrived at the scene. The lieutenant observed Engine 6's stretching of 
the hoseline and directed his firefighters to assist. An employee of the New 
York Telephone Company and a member of the Syosset (NY) Volunteer Fire 
Department helped with the hand-stretch and then remained for many hours to help 
Engine 6's chauffeur. The additional help on the handline enabled Engine 6 to 
begin the attack on the fire.

Engine 7 returned to the street and started a second 2 l/ 2-inch hoseline down 
the B ramp. I informed the firefighters that the car fires had to be knocked 
down as quickly and as safely as possible so that they could address the main 
target -the big red glow in the distance. Engine 7, in the meantime, would 
stretch a handline and operate to the right of Engine 6, where many more car 
fires were encountered.

Engine 6 began its attack. With the firefighters spread out on the hose-line, 
the nozzleman opened the nozzle, bouncing the water off the interior roofs of 
the cars, breaking up the stream, and then shooting the water under the cars' 
hoods and at each wheel well. The fires were quickly extinguished. The nozzle 
then was shut down, making the line easier and safer to move in the debris while 
moving on to the next car. With the controlman and the doorman pulling hose 
while watching everyone and the surrounding area for hazards, Engine 6 repeated 
this operation again and again until the crew arrived at the main body of fire.

Suddenly, another danger presented itself. The force of the explosion had 
crushed dozens of cars, rupturing their gas tanks, oil crank cases, and 
transmission and brake hoses; the floors became covered with gasoline and oil. 
We became aware of this problem when the nozzleman and the backup man, operating 
under a heavy smoke condition, began to slide down into a huge crater created by 
a collapsed portion of the garage floor that was at a 45-degree angle. Flames 
lapped at their legs, and everyone moved quickly. The doorman and controlman 
grabbed the backup man, while I grabbed the nozzleman. We almost became victims, 
however, as the oily floor made it necessary for us to struggle to maintain our 
footing. The backup man was rescued first. Working together, the crew got the 
nozzleman back on level ground. Moving back a short distance, Engine 6 
regrouped, pulled the hoseline back, and repositioned themselves at another 
point on the edge of the bomb crater.

Page 34 

ARRIVAL AT THE PRIMARY FIRE 

We had reached our main target. The reach of the 2 l/ 2-inch hoseline now was 
brought into play. The bomb crater was huge, and a tremendous fire was burning. 
Our 45-minute SCBA air pack alarms began to ring. Our chauffeur appeared with 
spare cylinders. Concerned about our safety, he made repeated entries into the 
bomb area. Engine 7's officer and chauffeur were working as a team to monitor 
pumper operations.

I was unable to contact the command post on the street level from our below-
grade location. As senior officer at the location, I checked on the safety and 
progress of Engine 7 and the members of ladder 1, who were conducting primary 
searches of the burned cars. Moving around the area -climbing over, under, and 
around all the hazards and debris -was extremely dangerous, but the safety of 
the members was of paramount importance.

MAIN GOALS: PROTECT AND EXTINGUISH 

Early in suppression operations, Firefighter Kevin Shea fell into the bomb 
crater. When this occurred, Engine 6 was the only unit with the necessary water 
pressure and volume operating into the bomb crater. Our primary focus, 
therefore, became the protection of Firefighter Shea and his rescuers in 
addition to the extinguishment objective. For the good part of an hour, Engine 6 
firefighters worked to accomplish these goals, rotating positions on the 
handline numerous times in an effort to conserve as much strength as possible 
without jeopardizing safety and operations. As more units arrived on the scene 
and advanced toward the bomb crater, the crater fire began to darken down. Shea 
was removed from the hole, and the main body of fire was extinguished.

Relief units arrived on the B-2 level after 1400 hours, and the first-alarm 
operating units were able to leave the area. As Engines 6 and 7 emerged up the B 
ramp after almost two hours on the B-2 level, their members confronted a scene 
that was unbelievable. The quantity of equipment and number of personnel on the 
scene were mind boggling.

During operations, the members were so intently focused on extinguishing the 
many fires and protecting each other that they did not realize the beating they 
had taken: smoke inhalation, traumas from falling concrete, hitting downed 
pipes, and falling over collapsed debris. Engine Companies 6 and 7 were taken to 
St. Vincent's Hospital in Greenwich Village, where the hospital's disaster plans 
were in full operation.

Page 35 

LESSONS LEARNED AND REINFORCED 

1. For engine companies. the decision to apply water and knock down the fires, 
thereby reducing smoke development. played an important role in the outcome of 
the incident -just as important as locating victims in and removing them from 
the immediate blast area.

2. Companv commanders play an important role in relaying initial conditions of 
their "slice" of a major incident -in this case. for example, relaying 
information on the extent of the explosion to help the incident a commander 
establish the magnitude of the incident.

3. Although the 2 l/ 2-inch handline is more difficult to maneuver,, speed was 
not compromised due to the need to move slowly around the crater -leaking; 
vehicle fuels. water, and so on made the floor and surfaces verv slippery. 
threatening: to plunge members into the crater.

The 2 l/ 2-inch hoseline placed greater physical demands on firefighters, but it 
provided the volume and reach needed for fire extinguishment and member 
protection.

4. Gather as much information from a varietv of sources as possible in making: 
size-up determinations and tactical decisions.

Many factors entered into the decision to operate down the B ramp and hand-
stretch our line, including information from the off-duty firefighter, the 
teleprinter, the department radio, Port Authority Police, and the Secret Service 
Agent, plus a number of on-scene tangibles and intangibles, including:

-the visual inspection of the blast site; 
-the nonoperating sprinkler system; 
-achieving a positive, confirmed water supply: 
-the training and experience of members; 
-our ability to adapt and be flexible; 
-our members' awareness that they were operating in a very dangerous environment 
and that they had to be alert for worsening conditions; 
-confidence in the firefighters and their abilities and firefighters' confidence 
in the officers; 
-the importance of getting the first hoseline into operation; and 
-teamwork and communications between the first-arriving units that made it 
possible to get water on the fires more quickly. 

Page 36 

5. Appropriate levels of safety and accountability must be achieved for every 
incident. 

PASS devices and good flashlights were mandatory during this operation. In a 
major operation, communications may be difficult, particularly from below grade, 
and it may take time to fill positions within the ICS in the initial stages of 
the incident. It is incumbent on senior company officers to assume a "global" 
responsibility for member safety during such situations.

Page 37 

Rapid Intervention at the Vista Hotel, Above Grade by John J. Walpole 

On Friday, February 26, 1993, at 12: 18 p. m., a powerful explosion took place 
on the B-2 level of the World Trade Center in New York. The New York Vista Hotel 
almost immediately became impassable due to the resulting thick black smoke, 
fallen walls and ceilings, blocked exit doors, and a totally uprooted garage 
floor with substantial damage from the plaza level down to the B-6 level.

It became immediately evident that this was an extraordinary explosion -it 
seemed to be effective -everywhere at the same time. The service and guest 
elevators of the hotel were out of commission, with the service elevator walls 
in a collapsed condition. The walls of the laundry room on the B-l level 
collapsed, and pipes were hanging from the ceiling. The employee locker rooms, 
employee cafeteria, receiving area, garage and garage office, police station, 
operations office, and area leading to the loading dock all were destroyed. 
Visibility was close to zero within the B-l area.

At the time of the explosion, I was waiting for an elevator with another 
individual on the B-l level. An invisible blast wave emanated from the elevator 
shaft, immediately followed by an onrush of air back into the elevator shaft. It 
was when the backrush of air occurred -not during the initial blast -that 
building materials and debris began to fall around us.

Immediately following the explosion, I collected myself and also took charge of 
the ensuing chaotic situation. An immediate evacuation directive was radioed to 
the hotel fire command station in the lobby, where an assistant fire safety 
director was on duty as per the hotel's fire safety plan.

With help from the assistant chief engineer and assistant director of safety and 
security, I conducted an evacuation of the B-l area. The 120 employees located 
within the area were directed by voice and light to the

John J. Walpole is director of safety and security for Hilton International's 
Vista International Hotel, an 829-room, one-ballroom, three-restaurant hotel in 
the World Trade Center. His professional experience includes serving as 
assistant director of investigations for the New York Racing Association, as a 
special investigator with the Nassau County District Attorney's Office, and with 
the federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Walpole is a certified 
protection professional who has a bachelor's degree in criminal justice and has 
received various specialized training through the DEA and the New York City 
Police Department. 

Page 38

only exit that could be cleared for evacuation due to the extensive damage in 
the area. One employee was temporarily blinded by office glass that exploded in 
his face; another employee fell and suffered a leg injury. All were removed by 
security personnel to the safety of the street, where medical aid was available.

Our emergency generator and public address system were still functional after 
the explosion, and the assistant fire safety director made forceful evacuation 
announcements to building occupants over the PA system. The emergency generator 
later was shut down because of concern that it was supplying damaged, energized 
electrical equipment in the below grade areas, potentially subjecting people to 
injury. In addition, the generator itself was in a damaged area that was subject 
to collapse.

Security personnel used quick-response equipment located throughout the hotel, 
such as portable lights and tools, as directed in the fire safety plan. The 
smoke was so thick and black in places that using lights to guide personnel was 
ineffective at times. Individuals in the B-l area -both hotel employees and Port 
Authority personnel -were in a state of shock but evacuating in an orderly file. 
Concern was raised that another explosion would take place and that the already-
damaged walls and ceilings could collapse further, causing additional damage and 
injury. After the B-l area was secured and no longer occupied, I proceeded to 
the lobby area to take charge of the fire command station and put in place 
additional search and rescue efforts by hotel security/ fire safety personnel.

After reaching the lobby area of the hotel and assessing the damage, I realized 
that the hotel had suffered tremendously. [See digram of lobby level of Vista 
Hotel on the following page.] A meeting room (adjacent to the Liberty Room 
ballroom), directly over the point of explosion on the B-2 level, had a large 
hole in it. At the time of the explosion, guests and attendees in the ballroom 
areas were evacuated without incident or injury by the security/ fire safety 
personnel on duty in the area. The Plaza Level area, consisting of two 
restaurants and the executive offices for the hotel, was damaged. Security 
personnel searched the guest room and public facility areas of the hotel to 
evacuate and locate any possibly injured guests or employees. The entire 
evacuation took about 10 minutes, with minimal injury -a very professional job. 
The time of day (around the noon hour) helped in that the hotel was minimally 
occupied.

After attending to the evacuation and head count of guests and employees, the 
hotel safety/ security and engineering staff, along with managerial personnel, 
began to assess the physical and structural damage to the hotel. At this time, 
emergency personnel were responding to the

Page 39 

Vista Hotel -Lobby/ Concourse 772-2-28-94-4 

scene. Firefighters conducted their search operations. During the physical-
damage assessment, it became evident that numerous resources had to be mobilized 
to protect the hotel and property.

BASIC DAMAGE ASSESSMENT 

All power for the hotel was knocked out. Telephone service was down. The 
building's heat plant was out. No water was available, so sprinkler and 
standpipe systems were not operational. The fire alarm system was inoperable. 
Building security was breached -i. e., doors had been blown off and were not 
functional. The structural integrity of several areas of the building was in 
question.

RECOVERY EFFORTS 

Hotel engineering immediately arranged for consultative and contractual 
assistance to help correct the results of the blast. We then took the following 
steps:

contacting mobile electrical generating facilities to arrange for a tie-in to 
the hotel's electrical system; 

Page 40 

arranging for mobile steam-generating units and the appropriate tie-in to the 
hotel systems to safeguard against pipes freezing;

contracting with all major trades (i. e.. electrical, plumbing, carpentry, 
steam-fitting, and cleaning) to deactivate any live wires, cap any services 
required, and provide temporary barricades and, enclosures from the elements, as 
necessary;

contacting the fire alarm company to assess damage and reactivate the fire alarm 
system;

hiring a private security firm to aid in the protection of hotel property and 
render fire watch assistance:

contacting architectural and engineering consultants to examine the damages and 
provide a full assessment of immediate and long-term repairs; and

providing all labor necessary to remove hazardous conditions -i. e., falling 
walls and ceilings and so forth, to render the site safe for further demolition 
and repair.

The efforts of hotel personnel and on-site engineering contractors were 
successful in that all precautions were taken and engineering expertise was 
present for professional assessment. Although damage resulting from the 
explosion was critical, personal injury was minimal.

The success of the hotel evacuation and recovery was due to professional 
engineering response professionals were on-site and immediately available. In 
addition, security and fire safety personnel had participated in collective 
training and planning. The hotel is scheduled to reopen in mid-1994.

Page 41 

Below-Grade Fire Extinguishment and Victim Recovery by Kenneth Cerreta 


I was relieved as incident commander of the World Trade Center explosion by 
Chief of Department Anthony Fusco approximately 30 minutes into the incident. He 
directed me to assume command of the fire extinguishment operation. Until that 
point, I had been concerned mostly with operations in the Vista Hotel and the 
thousands of people self-evacuating out of this giant complex in almost total 
darkness; smoke conditions in the stair towers and on the floors; and our rescue 
effort. Now I took leave of the command post, accessed the B stairs in Tower 1 
to the B-2 level, and prepared to coordinate the firefighting actions below 
ground.

The scene that greeted me can only be described as surrealistic. Heavy smoke 
poured out from a deep, wide crater and from burning debris and automobiles 
around it. I realized that the damage could only have been caused by a large 
explosive device. The thought of a second explosion crossed my mind but was 
quickly put aside by the urgency of the situation.

Fire extinguishment at the WTC explosion was critical to the safety of the 
building occupants. There almost certainly would have been more injuries and 
deaths in this incident had members not halted the generation of smoke from 
numerous below-grade fires. Rescue and removal operations in the towers would 
have been much more difficult, and the occupants would have been exposed to 
greater amounts of smoke for longer periods of time.

Handlines -all 2 l/ 2-inch lines, as per high-rise SOPS -were operated in the 
lower levels from the initial stages of the incident. Firefighters who manned 
these handlines did so under extremely dangerous conditions; the potential for 
secondary collapses or additional explosions was a constant threat.

Kenneth Cerreta is deputy assistant chief of Manhattan Borough for the City of 
New York (NY) Fire Department. In his 30-year career, he has worked in all five 
boroughs of the city. He has a bachelor's degree in fire science from John Jay 
College of Criminal Justice in New York and was an instructor of the fire 
department's incident command course. At the time of the World Trade Center 
explosion, he was commander of Manhattan South Fire Command. 

Page 42

Handlines Deployed in Fire Extinguishment 772-2-26-94-6 

There were numerous fires on both the B-2 and B-3 levels. 
Members extinguished fires in offices, a cafeteria, locker rooms, workrooms, 
free-burning rubble, and at least 50 burning automobiles; lines also provided 
protection to Firefighter Kevin Shea, who had fallen into a crater and was 
vulnerable to numerous fires burning around him. As they advanced, firefighters 
on the attack lines searched for, and in some cases removed, victims from cars 
and under rubble.

Size-up was hindered by poor visibility, the size of the crater and extent of 
the damage around it, and difficulty in communicating via portable radio. 
Lighting in the below-grade areas came from the fires themselves. Individual 
units on the B-2 level, in this very difficult environment, were unaware that 
there were other lines in operation near the crater. As the incident progressed, 
firefighters forced entry into automobiles and turned on their headlights for 
additional light. Fortunately, the area of the crater was so large that opposing 
streams were not a danger.

I made my way around the periphery of the crater and personally communicated 
with units operating on the fires. Through these conversations and visual 
observation, I determined that the fires were being controlled by the 
surrounding handline attack. I relayed progress reports to the command post 
primarily through runners, though I delivered a few messages personally so as to 
confer with Chief Fusco.

EXTINGUISHMENT SUMMARY 

Only four hydrants were readily available to initial-operating units, and 
portions of the buildings' standpipe systems were damaged in the blast. 
Nevertheless, water supply was never a serious problem because local fire 
companies had an excellent knowledge of the area hydrant system through 
preplanning, experience, and training. This was a critical factor in ensuring a 
rapid, continuous water supply, which, in retrospect, was our only real defense 
against smoke generation and, therefore, smoke movement within the buildings. 
Automatic sprinkler systems in the area around the explosion were either 
destroyed or overwhelmed by the blast; we worked with a Port Authority engineer 
to isolate damaged portions of both the sprinkler and standpipe systems so that 
undamaged sections would be functional if needed.

Engine Company 10, observing smoke pushing from the Vista Hotel garage doors, 
entered the K-l stairs in the hotel and connected the first handline to a 
standpipe riser on the B-2 level. This did not produce a satisfactory stream -
the standpipe was damaged and the resulting pressure

Page 44 

inadequate. Assisted by members of Engine Company 5, this hoseline was connected 
to Engine 10's apparatus in the street. Engine 10 operated this line for 
approximately two hours, extinguishing numerous car fires.

Engine Company 6, arriving very soon after Engine 10, immediately connected to a 
hydrant and stretched a handline down the B garage ramp to the B-2 level, where 
the members rescued several victims, extinguished numerous car fires, and 
operated on the fires in the crater. Their water was supplemented from a 
manifold by Engine 5, whose crew members provided relief to Engine 6.

Engine Company 7 assisted Engine 6 with their stretch, then stretched a handline 
of their own and operated on the fires in the crater and the automobiles. They 
also pulled a victim out of the crater debris.

Engine Company 18 connected to a hydrant and supplied the standpipe system, 
partially operational, then stretched a handline off the standpipe on the east 
side of the crater. Engine Company 209 assisted in advancing this line and 
eventually relieved Engine 18. These units also removed a trapped civilian and 
assisted in the removal of Firefighter Shea.

Engine Company 205 stretched from the standpipe on the B-3 level (south side of 
the crater). This handline was stretched and filled in with the assistance of 
engine companies 204,202, and 55. It was used to extinguish fires and protect 
Firefighter Shea during his removal.

Engine Company 47 stretched and operated a line from Engine 7 down the Vista 
fire stairs to the B-2 level on the crater's southwest side.

Engine Company 230 proceeded down the B stair in Tower 1 to the B-2 level. They 
stretched a line from the standpipe to the "building service area" and 
extinguished fires in an office and locker room area. This is the area from 
which four of the six fatalities were recovered.

Engine Company 255 stretched and manned a line off a standpipe in the Vista 
Hotel and operated on the southwest side of the crater.

Engine Company 54 stretched off the standpipe in the B-l stairs at the B-3 level 
and operated on the west side of the crater.

Fourteen engine companies operated nine handlines to extinguish all below-grade 
tires in approximately one hour. The below-grade tires were declared under 
control at 1: 48 p. m.

Page 45 

VICTIM RECOVERY 

As the incident progressed, I was directed to coordinate the victim recovery 
operation in addition to fire extinguishment.

Two fatalities (numbers two and three; the first fatality already had been 
located early in the incident by FDNY) were recovered from the building service 
area of Tower 1 during the initial search and extinguish-ment operations. This 
area is adjacent to where the explosives were detonated, separated by a concrete 
block wall. Once fires in this area were extinguished, we called for a PA 
supervisor to identity the bodies. He positively identified them, and they were 
moved to a temporary morgue set up in the Vista Hotel.

The PA supervisor reported that three additional employees were thought to be in 
the general vicinity of the building service area at the time of the explosion. 
He provided us with names, descriptions, and last known locations, and we 
initiated a systematic search. Under the supervision of a battalion chief, units 
searched the rubble, starting from the area immediately surrounding the crater. 
It was a herculean task, considering that the rubble, piled two to three feet 
high, was a mass of broken concrete, twisted steel beams, mangled piping, and 
smashed wall board, lockers, and office furniture. A six-foot-wide strip around 
the crater was cleared by hand and searched, then the debris was moved back into 
this area and the search perimeter extended another six feet, and so on. 
Rotation and relief were imperative for this heavy manual work.

Two fatalities, numbers four and five, were recovered by the fire department 
using this method. Another victim would be found approximately two weeks later; 
meanwhile, the search through the rubble had to continue until the entire area 
had been combed -there was always the possibility that a person not yet reported 
missing was visiting or passing through the area.

LESSONS LEARNED AND REINFORCED 

1. The extinguishment of the fires on the B levels had a tremendous impact on 
the outcome of the incident. 

The fire extinguishment diminished the quantity of smoke generated and, as a 
result, diminished the amount of smoke traveling into the buildings above, 
without this relatively quick knockdown. The injury and death statistics would 
have been much different.

Page 46 

Officers easily can be overwhelmed by the magnitude of the evacuation effort at 
large-scale incidents, but always must remember a basic rule of firefighting: 
Timely handlines operated aggressively from the interior between the life hazard 
and the fire often are the best protection against the effects of fire.

2. Local fire units' knowledge of hydrant locations. building layout. and fixed 
svstems is an invaluable asset in high-rise/ industrial incidents.

Time spent during building and hydrant inspections and local familiarization 
drills saves valuable time and effort when an incident occurs.

3. When normal fireground communication methods are ineffective. we must 
improvise by using; relays. runners, cellular phones. etc.

4. When operating at a large-scale oneration. members, including; incident/ 
sector commanders, may not alwavs be aware of the location of everv unit.

It is important that each phase of the operation be under the control of chief 
officers who can network with the incident/ sector commander for a more complete 
picture. Be sure to call enough chiefs to the scene.

5. As soon as possible. ascertain the number of neople thought to be in the fire 
and/ or explosion area from supervisors. coworkers. or security personnel.

Information including the names, descriptions, and last known locations can 
assist in pinpointing and organizing a systematic search. It will help speed up 
operations and, in turn, increase the chances of victim survival.

6. Risk analvsis is ongoing throughout any incident. but once fire is 
extinguished and those reported missing are accounted for, it becomes especially 
important to remove personnel on a timely basis if there is any doubt as to the 
stability of the involved areas.

7. Use large handlines for large bodies of fire. The maneuverability of smaller 
handlines was sacrificed for the quick knockdown capability of larger lines. 
This requires a 

Page 47 

manpower-intensive effort. Relief, rotation, and crew augmentation must be 
considered -and practiced -by officers.

8. When exolosions take out a portion of a standpipe svstem, it often is 
possible to isolate the damaged section through the use of riser isolation 
valves and/ or sectional control valves.

Preplan these operations so you know the valves' locations and the areas they 
control, and drill local units in their use.

Page 48 

Operations in Tower 1 by Donald J. Burns 

I was at FDNY Headquarters in the borough of Brooklyn when the World Trade 
Center (WTC) explosion occurred. I was notified of a second alarm at the WTC and 
that there had been some type of explosion. Usually, a report of an explosion in 
a high-rise indicates an electrical problem such as a large short or a 
transformer explosion. After notification of a rapid escalation to a third 
alarm, I responded with Deputy Chief Edward Dennehy.

As we crossed the Brooklyn Bridge into lower Manhattan, a fourth alarm was 
transmitted, along with an additional alarm for Tower 1. The fire department 
radio traffic told me something big and unusual was taking place -this wasn't 
the "run-of-the-mill" high-rise fire.

I approached the WTC and drove past the entrance ramp to the loading zone/ 
parking garage under the building. Smoke was issuing from the opening, and 
firefighters were removing people from the area and stretching lines into the 
lower levels.

As I crossed West Street to the command post, I could see smoke drifting around 
and over Tower 1. I also could see people evacuating, tower windows being broken 
by the occupants, and a lot of confusion on the street. I reported to Deputy 
Assistant Chief Kenneth Cerreta at the command post, but I declined to assume 
the role of incident commander because I knew Chief of Department Anthony Fusco 
would be arriving soon and would be in command. I concentrated instead on Tower 
1 and in finding solutions to the problems we had there.

I was not prepared for the scene that greeted me when I entered the lobby: The 
smoke condition was so black and thick that visibility, even with a flashlight, 
was no more than three feet. The lobby was filled with people trying to 
evacuate. Fire, police, Port Authority, and EMS personnel had formed a human 
chain to funnel the people out of the stairway to the

Donald J. Burns is a 32-year veteran and assistant chief of FDNY, currently 
sewing as the department's chief of operations. He has served as assistant chief 
of support services and as chief in midtown Manhattan. Burns developed and was 
the first director of the New York State First Line Supervisors Training 
Program. He is a New York state-certified instructor and has taught high-rise 
firefighting at the New York State Fire Academy in Montour Falls. 

Page 49

exit. Deputy Chief Dennehy and Battalion Chief Richard Picciotto were trying to 
establish a sub-command post near the entrance to gain control over responding 
units.

After a quick reconnaissance of the lobby, I determined that I had to stop the 
smoke from being drawn into Tower 1, if possible. I took a company and went to 
the exposure #4 side, next to the Vista Hotel, where I knew there was a 
passageway connecting the tower and the hotel. I hoped that somebody hadn't 
closed the doors and that was the reason smoke was getting in.

We soon found that not to be the case: The explosion had blown a hole through 
the floor in an area of the Vista Hotel adjoining Tower 1 and had blown out a 
number of large plateglass windows that were designed to act as a barrier 
between the two buildings. We would not be able to stop the movement of smoke. I 
knew that Tower 1, because of the stack effect, would act as a chimney for the 
fire down in the lower levels and that doors opening onto the stairway and smoke 
travel through elevator shafts would allow tenant spaces to become contaminated.

On our way back to the entrance, one of our members suggested that we remove the 
front windows. Normally in a high-rise fire I wouldn't break out the windows, 
but in this case I felt that removing them would allow some fresh air into the 
lobby and stairways and might change the smoke patterns, keeping the smoke from 
being drawn into the tower, so I approved that action.

I proceeded to the lobby command post and told the chiefs that the smoke could 
not be stopped and we would have to search the entire building -all 110 floors 
and 99 elevators. The explosion blew many elevator doors off their tracks and 
severed electrical cables, bringing all elevator service to a stop and trapping 
anyone in an elevator at that time.

At this point, the people exiting from the stairway were choking from the smoke 
and complaining that there were no communications or lights. Reports from the 
evacuees indicated that smoke was heavy up to at least the 20th floor, possibly 
beyond that.

We would have to rely primarily on firefighters to communicate with occupants. 
The WTC's central fire command station was located on the B-l level. The single 
control room had worked fairly well over the years, but when the blast knocked 
the control room out of service, the drawbacks of having only one control room 
for the entire complex were brought to the forefront. With the control room 
inoperative, communication between

Page 50 

command and the floors became impossible. The Port Authority's portable radio 
system could not be used, since it operated on a relay system that passed 
through the control room. The only communication with upper floors was via 
civilian radio or telephone system -or emergency workers. Telephones were a 
problem because those on a private telephone switching station operate on power 
from the building.

I left the building and reported my findings to Chief FUSCO, now in command of 
the incident. I requested 30 to 40 units as soon as possible, then went to 
assume command of the Tower 1 sector.

*** 

As I was leaving the command post, someone directed my attention to the walkway 
between the Tower 1 mezzanine and the Vista Hotel patio, specifically to a Tower 
1 door located at that level. He said people were banging on the door and 
couldn't get it open.

When the WTC was designed, I don't think anyone envisioned that someday 25,000 
occupants would have to evacuate using only the stairways. Tower 1 was designed 
with only three evacuation stairways; only one of these runs the full length of 
the building to the lobby level. The other two stairways end at the mezzanine in 
the lobby of Tower 1, the exterior plaza level of the WTC. A walkway connects 
the Tower 1 mezzanine with the Vista Hotel's outside patio. Most occupants of 
the WTC had never entered the stairways before the incident; if the stairs were 
used, it was only for a floor or two. The stairs are not used as a regular means 
of egress.

I ordered a truck company to the Tower 1 door leading to the walkway patio to 
force open the door. A tower ladder was parked nearby, and I ordered a member to 
raise the bucket up to the patio in case we needed it to assist evacuees. When 
the door was forced open, we found people piled up against it. Some were 
unconscious due to the smoke. They had come down the stairways that ended on the 
mezzanine level. Because of the heavy smoke, they couldn't find the exits after 
they got to the mezzanine.

*** 

After the lobby windows were broken out, the smoke condition in the lobby and 
mezzanine improved considerably. It was then that I discovered some lights were 
still working. They stayed operational for only

Page 51 

a short time, until the emergency generators went out and, with them, the 
lighting.

As companies reported in to Tower 1 sector command, they were given five-floor 
sectors to search and were directed to take a specific stairway to those floors 
so we could provide relatively uniform coverage to each of the three evacuation 
routes. The searching firefighters, as expected, had to force numerous doors 
both from the stairways and on the floors.

I directed Battalion Chief Picciotto to assist at the command post in 
coordinating assignments. By the time our operation was in full swing, we had 
two deputies, each covering half of the tower; five battalion chiefs responsible 
for 20 floors; and approximately eight to 10 units operating per 20 floors.

A representative from Port Authority engineering reported to the sector command 
post and informed me that he had a number of elevator mechanics available to 
climb the stairs to the machinery rooms on floors 48 and 74, where they could 
release the brakes on the cars and bring them up to the sky lobby to be checked. 
I detailed a truck company to accompany the elevator personnel to search the 
elevators.

All units started from floor one and had to climb the stairs to whatever floors 
they had been assigned. At a rate of one minute per flight of stairs, it would 
take an hour to reach the 60th floor. But during such an emergency, with people 
using common stairways to evacuate, it really takes closer to two or three 
minutes per floor. We had to allow approximately two to three hours for a climb 
to the 60th floor. Chiefs on the stairs reported progress/ status and the 
conditions they found through a relay system my portable radio was good up to 
about 43 floors, so I stationed a deputy chief at that position to relay 
information from above down to me. I received periodic updates from messengers 
with MDT printouts of the calls from occupants of upper floors. I sent these 
messengers back to the command post with requests for additional units and 
progress reports.

All afternoon, I was receiving reports of people trapped or in need of help. All 
these reports were investigated. People on the lower floors could be helped 
fairly easily, but it is very disheartening to get a message about people 
needing help because of a heart condition or disability when you know that 
nobody can reach them for a couple of hours. Nevertheless, emergency personnel 
accounted for all those who needed extra help. In some cases, nonambulatory 
civilians or civilians with health problems were carried down the stairs to 
ground level from upper floors. EMS (stair)

Page 52 

chairs and regular office chairs were used in many carries. Furthermore, late-
arriving engine companies were requested to bring resuscitators to upper floors.

*** 

The operation in Tower 1 was a massive search and evacuation effort. High-rise 
firefighting often calls for a defend-in-place strategy whereby occupants are 
sheltered in safe areas of the building while the fire is extinguished and 
essential building systems/ services are restored, if necessary. In this case, 
however, because occupants felt the explosion, followed a few minutes later by 
smoke throughout the building, almost everyone started to self-evacuate. The 
fire department made the decision to order a complete evacuation anyway, due to 
the nature of the incident and the unlikelihood that building electrical power 
and fire protection systems would become operational in a suitable period of 
time.

Approximately four hours into the operation I stopped sending companies up the 
stairs, since companies already had made it to the 80th floor and could reach 
the top much faster than companies starting from the bottom. We already had more 
than 40 companies operating in Tower 1. At 1800 hours -the change of tour -the 
issue of relief arose. I decided not to relieve the units, instructing them to 
perform secondary searches on the way down. Some units had been in the building 
for more than eight hours by the time they got back to the street.

As time went on, problems developed that are inevitable in any extended 
operation -flashlight batteries died, radio batteries started getting weak, 
firefighters were getting hungry, and exhaustion was setting in. We decided that 
as soon as members reached the lobby area, they would take up and go home.

The firefighters who operated in Tower 1 accomplished remarkable things. Some 
climbed 110 floors to search. Some carried people down 60 or 80 floors. Members 
responded to about 20 maydays for people in serious trouble. They searched 99 
elevators and, in the end, 25,000 people were evacuated.

When I first went into the tower and saw the smoke condition, I expected to have 
a big problem -people collapsing and maybe even a few deaths. As time went on, 
conditions improved and, except for a few cases of exhaustion and chest pains 
that were quickly handled, the pressure on everyone lessened.

Page 53 

On that Friday, I believe anybody who responded went through a whole range of 
emotions, from fear of a large loss of life to anxiety, exhaustion, and, 
finally, exhilaration. It was an operation that few who were there will ever 
forget.

Elevator and Stairway Configuration, Towers

Page 54 

LESSONS LEARNED AND REINFORCED 

1. With barriers between below grade areas and Tower 1 breached, stack effect in 
control. and the force of the explosion behind it. smoke migrated to upper 
floors throuph shafts within minutes.

A crucial early action was the removal of the lobby windows, allowing some smoke 
to escape and that which remained inside the tower to be diluted. This "short-
circuiting" made the evacuation route more clear and cut down on the quantity of 
smoke on the upper floors.

2. Without elevators. sending companies to upper floors in large high-rise 
building is measured in hours. not minutes.

Chief officers must call for and coordinate resources accordingly. 

3. There is no perfect building;. Having the two stairs discharge to the 
mezzanine lobby, rather than directly to the exterior, was a major building 
design flaw. With visibility at less than a few feet due to smoke, people could 
not find their way out once they reached the mezzanine. Exits must be continuous 
-safely leading people to a public way.

4. Rest and rehabilitation nav a critical role in operations that nlace great 
physical demands on firefighters.

Early in the operation, doctors and nurses from the Port Authority health clinic 
in Tower 1 set up a space in the cafeteria on the 43rd floor for medical 
attention and rest and rehabilitation. This was used by civilians and emergency 
personnel and became an important area because it could supply soft drinks and 
food to those who needed them.

5. One of our biggest problems was communications. All building systems went 
down when the command center was knocked out. For operations involving very tall 
buildings or below grade areas, consider using a relay system for 
communications. Preplan and build contingency plans -our effectiveness is only 
as good as our ability to communicate.

Page 55 

6. Congested stairways made the use of stokes baskets for victim removal 
impractical.

Fortunately, no victims required immobilization, so EMS chairs and office chairs 
were functional in transporting nonambulatory/ incapacitated civilians. In the 
future, it would be extremely beneficial to emergency personnel to have medical 
supplies, EMS chairs, resuscitators, etc. available at various locations 
throughout these large structures for possible use during an emergency.

7. Elevators represent both the primarv and secondarv means of egress for 
nonambulatorv/ incapacitated occupants of large high-rise buildings.

Moving nonambulatory occupants down the stairways was a very difficult, 
manpower-intensive task. We were able to evacuate approximately 15 to 20 
nonambulatory civilians from Tower 1, but what would have happened if we had to 
accommodate a 100 or more? Serious thought must be given to providing these 
individuals greater self-sufficiency in egressing large public buildings.

8. Sizes of the avenues of egress must be able to handle the occupant load.

Evacuees were moving down the stairs as quickly as they could, but that was slow 
-like toll booths during rush hour in a big city. People from upper floors 
waited as long as an hour at certain points along the way while lower-floor 
occupants filed out. Not until 1630 hours did the steady stream of evacuees from 
the stairways lighten up.

9. Duplication of search efforts was a problem -among different emergencv 
agencies and the fire department itself.

Greater attention to marking stairwell entrance doors to searched floors is 
important.

10. Entry into the building: by non-emergency personnel and members of private 
concerns (such as the media) must be controlled.

This aspect was handled well by Port Authority Police located at building 
entrances.

Page 56 

Operations in Tower 2 by Robert Manson 

At 1218 hours on February 26, 1993, the occupants of the World Trade Center 
(WTC) Tower 2 knew immediately, from the concussion of the explosion, "that 
something had happened." Moments after the building shook, a light to moderate 
smoke condition began to develop on all floors, as smoke from the explosion and 
fires contaminated the tower through elevator shafts and other natural channels. 
Most of the approximately 25,000 tower occupants did what people do when they 
feel they may be trapped in a burning building: They tried to leave the 
building.

Unfortunately, a number of people on that day either forgot about or ignored the 
elevator warning signs and entered the elevators in an attempt to escape. Within 
a very few minutes of the first signs of smoke, Tower 2 had a partial power 
failure -elevators and emergency communication and ventilation systems went 
down, and portions of the building lost lighting. The occupants who had made it 
into the elevators were trapped; some would be trapped in those prisons for as 
long as 11 hours. While there was confinement, terror, and discomfort within 
these elevators, there fortunately were no serious injuries or fatalities. Had 
there been a working fire on a lower floor in Tower 2, the death toll may have 
been in the hundreds.

I was working a day tour in the 12th Division (borough of Brooklyn) on the day 
of the explosion. The 12th Division was directed by Brooklyn Communications to 
respond to the WTC complex, Tower 2, at approximately 1250 hours.

The enormity of the event was immediately evident on arrival. >From every point 
of view, hundreds of people were either lying on the ground, sitting on 
sidewalks, or wandering around in a state of confusion. Too numerous to count 
were New York City EMS, police, and fire vehicles throughout the streets. Many 
of the lobby windows of Tower 2 had been broken out by firefighters, and a light 
smoke condition existed throughout the large lobby area. Numerous people were 
lying on the lobby floor, some were being treated by EMS personnel, some by 
other civilians, while others were still unattended. Hundreds of people in 
various states of

Robert Manson is a 33-year veteran of the City of New York (NY) Fire Department, 
currently serving as a deputy chief of the 12th Division, in the borough of 
Brooklyn. From 1984-1991, he served as a staff chief, and his assignments 
included Manhattan borough commander and chief of fire prevention, before 
returning to the rank he now holds.

Page 57

trauma were exiting the stairways, streetlight was the only light for the lobby 
area, adding to the eeriness of the scene.

The only good sensed or felt on arrival was that whatever had caused all of this 
havoc was over with -it had done its damage. In Tower 2, there was fire to 
control, and the smoke condition on upper floors improved dramatically as below-
grade fires there extinguished about an hour into the operation. Locating, 
treating, and removing the injured and trapped victims constituted the incident.

Deputy Chief Joseph Mills of the 11th Division also was assigned to Tower 2. 
Chief Mills asked me to issue the lobby command position in Tower 2 while he 
operated on the upper floors as the operations chief.

The most immediate problem was treating the unattended civilians in the lobby 
area. Horizontal ventilation of the lobby early in the operation relieved 
conditions considerably, producing a very workable area for triage and treatment 
for those who had self evacuated to the lobby. With the arrival of additional 
EMS personnel, this was soon effected. We also were receiving reports that 
numerous people on various floors were suffering possible heart and asthma 
attacks and that at least two women were in labor, one of them reported to be 
hemorrhaging on the 98th floor. This woman was brought to the roof and removed 
by a NYPD helicopter.

I contacted the ranking EMS officer in the lobby and asked him to establish a 
triage center on the 34th floor. The 34th floor was chosen because one of our 
fire units reported it to be an open floor with good outside lighting.

A male occupant fell while descending the stairs on the 68th floor and broke his 
leg. He first was carried to and treated at triage and then chair carried to the 
lobby for removal to the hospital.

A fire unit also reported that more than a hundred civilians, many of them young 
children, were on the 107th-floor observation deck. Having been previously 
informed that electricity for the elevators might not be restored for a number 
of hours, if not days, the units were instructed to remove the civilians by 
stairway. During the removal, which took more than two hours, additional fire 
personnel were stationed throughout the stairwell to provide lighting and 
support to the children evacuating.

The number and configuration of stairways in Tower 2 were essentially the same 
as those in Tower 1: There were three stairways, one of which traveled the 
length of the building and two of which terminated

Page 58 

(or began) at the mezzanine level. But, unlike Tower 1, the smoke condition in 
Tower 2 was not so severe that occupants could not find exterior doors once they 
reached the mezzanine level.

SEARCH AND REMOVAL 

The major problem for search and removal in Tower 2 during this incident was the 
trapped elevator occupants. There were 99 elevator cars in the tower; almost 
two-thirds of them traveled through blind shafts. All the elevators had to be 
searched, and there were no elevators located at the lobby when power went down. 
One of the FDNY members performing search and evacuation of the elevators in 
Tower 2 was Lieutenant James Sherwood, an off-duty firefighter who had 
volunteered his services. While performing this duty, he became aware of an 
occupied elevator within a blind shaft on the 42nd floor, at approximately 1730 
hours. He searched around the core of the building at each floor, tapping on the 
walls and calling out for a possible response. When he received a response on 
the 42nd floor, he informed the "voice" that he would soon have him out. The 
lieutenant asked how many were in the elevator. The response was 72, most of 
them schoolchildren ages five and six

Having carried a maul during his search, the lieutenant was able to breach a 
small hole in the wall and to see a small portion of the top of the elevator 
car. He could make out the forms of numerous people in the car. He passed his 
flashlight into the car and then widened the hole so that he could enter the 
shaft onto the top of the elevator car. When on the car, he realized he was next 
to an open adjacent shaftway -if he fell, it would be a 42-story fall. He opened 
the elevator car's hatchway, reached down, and began to pull children up one by 
one. He passed the children to Port Authority police officers, who now were on 
the other side of the wall. After 12 of the children had been removed, the 
elevator car began to slowly descend without notice; power to one elevator bank 
was restored, and elevator personnel were bringing down the car. The lieutenant 
climbed into the elevator car to calm the now very fearful occupants. After a 
number of panic-filled minutes, the elevator car reached the lobby, and the 
occupants finally were removed to awaiting EMS personnel. The lieutenant has 
been recommended to the NYC Fire Department's Board of Merit for a commendation.

During the entire operation in Tower 2, FDNY operated with several battalion 
chiefs and 27 companies. While the search-and-rescue challenges in Tower 2 were 
indeed significant and sizable, fewer firefighters where required for this 
tower, as compared with Tower 1, because, as noted, the smoke condition in Tower 
2 did not present an urgent,

Page 59 

life-threatening situation. At 1800 hours with the change of tour, seven fresh 
truck companies were special-called to relieve the day-tour units. These units 
were special-called for a relief, to continue initial search and evacuation, and 
to perform a secondary search of all floors. With power restored to some of the 
elevators at approximately 1800 hours, we were able to send fresh units to the 
50th floor by elevator. We also were able to procure master floor/ office keys 
for entry into locked offices. The remainder of the search, while exhausting, 
went relatively smoothly. The last elevator occupants were found and removed at 
approximately 2300 hours, almost 11 hours after the beginning of the incident.

LESSONS LEARNED AND REINFORCED 

1. At any high-rise incident. once occupants begin to self-evacuate. it is 
almost impossible to stop them without good communication to the floors and 
stairways.

Occupants terrified for their lives will not readily listen to instructions to 
stop their exiting -which they truly believe will save their lives. Even if 
reversing self-evacuation were possible, fire department assessment of the 
extent of damage to vital building systems and the probability or improbability 
of restoring services within a reasonable time must factor into the decision. 
Unless absolutely necessary to protect life, it is advisable to assist 
(emergency personnel presence) in this self-evacuation to alleviate panic and to 
remove occupants from the stairways and building as soon as possible.

Once building occupants reach the lobby, the noise from these occupants will 
interfere with the incident management. (For those who make it down safely, 
extreme tension easily gives way to an almost festive mood.) In large-lobby 
buildings, remove the occupants to a distant part of the lobby, away from the 
lobby command post. In smaller-lobby buildings, remove the occupants to the 
outside if breaking glass and weather are not issues of concern.

2. At all high-rise incidents involving evacuations. the incident commander and 
sector officers must maintain stairway control, using them to the fullest 
advantage.

There was no fire in the towers at this incident, so designating "attack stairs" 
and "search-and-evacuation stairs" was not necessary; however, command directed 
companies to specific stairways to provide maximum coverage during the search 
effort and, based on communications with upper-floor officers, to address 
particular rescue problems in the most

Page 60 

expedient manner. Personnel resources must be such that sectoring of officers 
achieves stairway control.

3. Common sense dictates that when units are Special-called to high-rise 
buildings for search and evacuation under nonfire conditions (relief units at 
this incident). they should be advised in quarters. via command order through 
dispatch. to respond with street shoes.

A 30-, 60-, or 90-story climb will tax even the best-conditioned firefighters, 
and reducing the weight carried by firefighters will cut down on injuries and 
enhance the operation. Seven-pound boots translate to 35 pounds of "back 
weight."

4. As in any fire operation, a secondary search of all areas of the building 
must be made by fresh units to ensure that all occupants have been found, 
treated if necessary, and then removed from the building;.

When possible, these units should be provided with master keys to facilitate 
this secondary search, if these keys were not made available to the initial 
unit( s).

5. The natural chaos at an incident of this magnitude will work against an 
incident commander's ability to plan ahead for potential problems involving 
personnel from other agencies.

Every effort must be made to communicate with other agencies personnel and 
coordinate actions. The rescuer-accountability challenges are also magnified; 
with search parameters so large, it is imperative that company officers achieve 
control at the company level and communicate developments as often as necessary 
through a well-defined communications relay system.

6. Tools are an important aspect of search-and-rescue effectiveness. 
Firefighters must have the necessary tools before ascending the stairs-the 50th 
floor is not the place to remember the hydraulic door opener. Doors and 
elevators had to be forced, walls had to be breached, etc.

7. Assess medical needs early in the incident. Establish a forward triage area, 
if possible, which will allow for a prioritized patient-assessment and removal 
process.

Page 61 

8. Rescuing people through an elevator cab roof is performed only under 
extraordinary circumstances, such as those of the WTC incident.

If power is restored to a stalled elevator involved in such an evacuation, such 
as that which occurred during the evacuation of the cabful of schoolchildren, 
rescuers and trapped occupants are placed in an extremely dangerous position.

All elevator cabs have an "on top of car inspection switch" as well as an 
emergency stop button on top of the car, which will keep the cab from moving if 
power is restored. These switches/ buttons should be activated if rescues are 
conducted through the top of the cab. Activation of these switches/ buttons will 
not, however, prevent a cab from being moved manually from the elevator machine 
room.

Page 62 

Search and Rescue: An Overview by Ray Downey 

Within minutes of the initial explosion and resulting fire, rescues had begun. 
Port Authority personnel, including police officers at the command center on the 
B-l level and maintenance personnel who had been having lunch on the B-2 level, 
received a major blast impact. A number of victims had to be removed from 
beneath the rubble by their fellow employees.

Firefighters arrived on the scene within minutes. By the time handlines were 
positioned and advanced toward the below-grade fires, rescues were taking place. 
As firefighters made their way down into the garage area, they were finding 
victims trapped under rubble piles, while other victims could be heard hollering 
for help. Although six people lost their lives, the potential for a much greater 
catastrophe was diminished by the heroic efforts of those involved in the rescue 
and suppression operations.

Self-evacuation of the towers had begun minutes after the explosion. Occupants 
of the upper floors reported at smoke entered their office spaces minutes after 
they felt the effects of the initial blast. The fire department command 
structure implemented for this operation provided for, in addition to the main 
command post, individual sector and subsector commands within the primary areas 
that required immediate search and rescue. The sector command posts were located 
in the Vista Hotel, Tower 1, and Tower 2. Subsector command was established at 
the lower levels for fire extinguishment and the rescue of Firefighter Kevin 
Shea.

Vista Hotel. All 829 rooms in the hotel had to be searched. After hearing and 
feeling the explosion, a number of occupants surprisingly remained in their 
rooms. Many others were found in the hallways and stairways and had to be 
assisted to safe locations. In addition, where master keys were not available, 
firefighters had to force numerous doors.

Tower 1. In Tower 1, where the smoke condition was the heaviest, those 
conducting a massive search and rescue operation were encountering a multitude 
of problems that had the potential for disastrous results. 

Ray Downey, a captain and 31-year veteran of the City of New York (NY) Fire 
Department, has commanded the operations of its Rescue Co. 2 for the past 13 
years. He is a member of FEMA's US& R working group for equipment, Advisory 
Committee, and Technical Review Panel. Downey has an associate's degree in fire 
science and is a New York state-certified instructor. He conducts seminars and 
gives lectures on rescue-related tactics throughout the United States. Downey is 
the author of The Rescue Company, published by Fire Engineering Books, and is an 
editorial advisory board member of Fire Engineering 

Page 63

of the 110 floors had to be searched and occupants had to be assisted in 
evacuating. In many cases, firefighters physically removed victims to the 
street. Adding to these problems were 99 elevators that had to be located and 
searched, victims, some unconscious, were found in numerous elevators.

Tower 2. The search and rescue operation in Tower 2 was similar to That in Tower 
1: All 110 floors and 99 elevators had to be searched and victims located and 
removed to the street. Fortunately, the smoke condition in Tower 2 was not as 
severe as that in Tower 1, but this didn't reduce the problems encountered. 
Thousands of occupants were self-evacuating, and the search of elevators and 
tenant spaces was equally exhausting.

Below grade. Major firefighting and search and rescue operations were required 
below grade near the large blast area. The parking garage, with a total capacity 
of 2,000 vehicles, was about half-filled at the time of the explosion. Many cars 
were involved in fire, creating the additional danger of exploding gas tanks. 
The search effort in this area also required checking each vehicle for possible 
victims. Victims rescued from rubble piles reported that a number of fellow 
employees might be trapped in the same area; this was later confirmed by Port 
Authority management. The destruction from the explosion prevented rescuers from 
using some stairways to the lower floors, forcing them to find alternative means 
of reaching victims. Usually this meant climbing over and through debris. The 
search and rescue operation below grade was complicated by the fact that 
firefighting efforts required the use of nine handlines for final fire 
extinguishment.

Firefighter rescue. During the rescues below grade, one of the firefighters 
himself became a victim. Firefighter Kevin Shea, while making his way toward the 
sounds of a trapped victim, fell through flooring into the crater formed by the 
blast. After falling more than 40 feet and being severely injured, he still was 
able to direct rescuers to his location. Firefighters conducted an all-out 
operation to reach him, and he was successfully removed from this precarious 
position while fire extinguishment operations were still underway.

CONTROLLING THE OPERATION 

What are the means by which such an enormous rescue operation is controlled? An 
expanded incident command system that ensures adequate span of control but yet 
is flexible and adaptable. Sectoring and subsectoring the incident were 
critical. The sector commanders split up

Page 64 

their areas of responsibility into manageable parts, each under the control of 
an officer. For example, the commander of Tower 1 split the building in half and 
designated two chiefs for those areas; then he designated several officers 
responsible for coordinating the search and rescue operations on 10 to 20 
floors. Approximately eight to 10 units were assigned to each of these areas. 
This type of coverage was designed to ensure that all floors would be searched 
in a controlled mode.

Since each floor was equivalent to an acre in size, search would be a time-
consuming job. Although the majority of occupants were ambulatory, those who 
were disabled, elderly, pregnant, or in need of immediate a first aid required 
assistance that eventually reduced the number of rescuers available, creating 
the need for additional personnel and requiring the transmission of additional 
alarms. Well-coordinated communications within the command structure were 
required so the incident commander could keep informed of the needs of his 
subcommands.

Staffing was an ongoing problem throughout the operation. Tasks such as removing 
victims in wheelchairs from upper floors required four firefighters. Rescuers 
also were required to assist in evacuating occupants down the smoke-filled 
stairways to the street. Factors such as these required that the subcommands and 
the incident commander adjust and adapt the operational plan accordingly.

ELEVATOR SEARCH AND RESCUE: A UNIQUE PROBLEM 

Locating the elevators in each of the buildings required a coordinated effort. 
Normally, building maintenance personnel would have been able to provide 
invaluable help at the very outset of the incident. Unfortunately, many 
maintenance personnel had been located in the area of the blast when it 
occurred. It would be hours before some of them were available to assist with 
elevator rescue operations. Even in buildings where elevator personnel were 
available, in some cases they still had to climb 110 flights to reach the 
uppermost sky lobby and recall some elevators -and the climb could take four 
hours.

The elevators serving the local floors had discharge doors that could be opened 
easily, and rescuers could look into the shafts for elevator locations. However, 
the heavy smoke condition was traveling up the shafts to the upper floors, 
causing additional problems for rescuers trying to locate elevators, each shaft 
had to be checked at every possible access opening for locations.

Page 65 

Locating express elevators in blind shafts presented the biggest problem. As 
these blind shafts pass through the floors, there is no visible indication of 
shaft location at each floor. Those rescuers assigned to locate elevators, 
lacking the assistance of building maintenance personnel, had to rely on their 
experience, knowledge, and training to accomplish this most difficult 
assignment. Even after locating a shaft, heavy smoke conditions required rescue 
teams to make floor-by-floor inspections into the shaft until they eventually 
found the elevator in a shaft. Fortunately, through rescuers' efforts, numerous 
trapped occupants where saved. In one case, a firefighter located an elevator, 
forced open the doors, and found 10 victims lying unconscious on the car floor. 
All the victims were successfully resuscitated because of the rescuer's efforts.

The search, rescue, and evacuation the World Trade Center was the largest and 
most complex operation to which FDNY has responded. The effective implementation 
and utilization of the incident command system, the resources available to FDNY, 
and the training and professionalism of its members enabled this department and 
its rescuers to accomplish one of the most successful search and rescue missions 
in fire service history.

Page 66 

At the Bottom of the Crater by Kevin Shea 

Rescue 1 responded to the World Trade Center on February 26 on the initial 
alarm. When we arrived, the incident already had grown to a second alarm. We 
were waved over to the Vista Hotel lobby by hotel employees, who reported that 
people were trapped. We proceeded by stairway from the concourse to the B-l 
level to search. We encountered offices whose ceilings had come down and lockers 
that had been overturned. We thought initially that we were dealing with a 
transformer explosion and fire.

As I was about to search around the lockers, my officer, Lt. Jack McAllister 
called for help -he had found a live victim. The lieutenant was in a small, 
tight, cage-like area that contained air cylinders; he was perched on top of 
some of the overturned bottles. He told our company to look for another way to 
approach his location.

I went around a cubicle wall and opened a door. It was black and smoky inside. I 
yelled and the same victim responded. I knew this was an alternate way to reach 
him. With my partner, Gary Geidel, I went down what I thought was a long hallway 
-the door was a normal size, not unusually wide, and the floor didn't change 
surfaces (for example, from carpeting to tile or from tile to concrete) to 
indicate I had left the hallway. Then the floor angled up, and I felt broken 
concrete underfoot. Small chunks of concrete fell from the ceiling. I saw an 
orange glow ahead and felt the heat.

I thought we had a fire on the floor and might need a handline, so I turned to 
tell my partner. Suddenly the floor underneath me gave way, and I fell into the 
crater.

IN THE CRATER 

I fell 45 feet straight down, from the B-l level onto rubble piled on the B-5 
level. When I fell, I grabbed onto reinforcing bars sticking out of concrete, 
but I couldn't hold on. I hit debris on the bottom at a 45-degree angle feet 
first, then fell on my back. My leather helmet saved my life: My face smashed 
into the concrete when I fell. I was conscious the entire time.

Kevin Shea is a nine-year veteran of the City of New York (NY) Fire Department 
and a firefighter with Rescue Company No. 1 in Manhattan. 

Page 67

I landed a few feet away from fire -cars were on fire, but they were so mangled 
they were completely unrecognizable. My shoulder was slightly burned from being 
so close to the fire. I didn't realize how far I had fallen or how big the 
crater was.

I saw bright lights of fire all around me. I also heard explosions that were so 
loud I could feel them in my chest. I still thought a transformer was involved.

I tried to sit up but couldn't. I felt numb and thought I was impaled on 
something. I checked my body and determined I was not impaled, but I thought 
both of my legs were broken. The bone in my left knee was protruding through my 
boots.

Although my radio was banged up, it still worked. I radioed for help, because I 
didn't know if my partner had fallen through the floor with me. I also didn't 
know my location.

I immediately activated my PASS device, but I couldn't hear the radio with it on 
and it echoed in the crater. My rescuers couldn't hear where my alarm was coming 
from anyway, as it had to compete with numerous activated car alarms.

At the time of my fall, I had had two handlights -the one I was carrying was 
lost when I fell, but I had another one strapped to my wrist. I put that one 
down so I could see what I was doing. I was trying to unmask, because the 
bracket on my air pack was hung up on some debris. Then a piece of concrete fell 
down on the handlight, smashing it. I was able to work myself free of the mask 
anyway. At this time, the smoke was rising, so I was able to breathe. I decided 
to abandon my tangled air pack. I was able to see horizontally and vertically 
only about six or seven feet up.

I then had to move away from the fire, so I took my PASS device off my air pack 
and began to crawl. Debris was still falling and I still heard popping noises 
from the explosions. I was 10 to 15 feet away from water. I crawled over to it 
to protect myself from the fire, especially in case I lost consciousness.

The radio communication was sporadic. They apparently could hear my 
transmissions but I couldn't hear them, so I did a lot of yelling to 
communicate. At one point I was worried that I might drown from the water 
pouring in. I thought it was coming from handlines being used to extinguish 
fires, so I yelled for them to be shut down. However, the water was coming from 
broken piping.

Page 68 

I knew they could hear me: Streams were crisscrossing from different floors to 
hit the fire around me and protect me, and I verbally directed them to hit the 
fires. These engine operations really helped save my life.

Then I heard a call for help. I apparently fell past the first victim (that my 
lieutenant had originally found); this was the voice of another victim. I tried 
to crawl to him, but my protruding bone got caught on some debris. I crawled and 
slid over some big panels with metallic finish that once had been a part of the 
hotel's refrigeration area. (This second victim was located at the same time I 
was, and he was taken out before I was.)

My horizontal visibility was 15 to 20 feet; vertical visibility was still only 
six feet. I heard loud banging as things fell around me.

I was down in the hole for approximately a half hour. Lt. John Fox of Squad 1 
was lowered by rope in the same spot where I fell. Other rescuers held the rope 
as he descended. Fox couldn't see me at first, so I yelled directions to him. A 
second rescuer, Jack Tighe, crawled to my location. Then fire and police 
personnel converged on my location from different directions. They put me in a 
stokes basket and carried me out in the following manner: We crossed over the 
rubble on an entire level, then they hoisted me up a ladder to the next level, 
then we went across the rubble of that level, then up another ladder to another 
level, and so on. The crater was configured differently in different areas. 
Where I fell was a shear drop; not so in other parts.

I was taken to the hospital. It was in the emergency room that I was first told 
of a bombing.

My injuries included a broken left kneecap, a broken right ankle, a broken nose, 
a broken bone in my forehead (which would have caused my death if it weren't for 
the helmet I was wearing), and many muscle tears and pulls. I have had two 
operations and might require additional surgery. I currently undergo daily 
physical therapy.

Page 69 

The Rescue of Firefighter Kevin Shea by Steven C. De Rosa 

Lt. Jack McAllister and the members of Rescue Co. 1 had been assigned to the 
Vista Hotel by the command post. When they entered the lobby, they were told by 
building personnel that some workers on the lower levels could not be located. 
The smoke condition in the hotel lobby was light, but the smoke rising from the 
stairway was heavy and obscured visibility.

Rescue 1 proceeded down the smoke-filled stairway to the B-l level. While 
searching the rooms adjacent to this corridor, Firefighter Kevin Shea and 
Firefighter Gary Geidel heard someone calling for help. The sound seemed to be 
coming from the garage area, and both firefighters started moving toward the 
call for help, stepping over and onto piles of rubble as they went. Visibility 
was extremely poor in this location.

Suddenly, Shea fell some 40 to 50 feet through the rubble and fire. All rescue 
firefighters are equipped with portable radios; and as soon as he could, Shea 
transmitted a "mayday" signal over his radio. Then he crawled away from the fire 
to a safer location. Geidel called out to Shea and told him he was going for 
help. He went to the hotel lobby and informed me that Shea was trapped and a 
hoseline was needed immediately, as Shea had fallen in proximity to the fire in 
the hole.

Meanwhile, McAllister tried to maintain contact with Shea by leaning ever the 
edge of the crater and holding his radio over the pit. (Portable radios do not 
function well in concrete and steel-reinforced areas below grade. Line-of-sight 
communication is required; we routinely use relay transmissions for subway 
operations.)

I was placed in command of the firefighter rescue subsector at the below-grade 
levels of the Vista Hotel. The rescue effort to locate and remove Shea was 
complex and dangerous due to many factors:

Initially, we did not know how to get to his location, as units could not see 
him due to the smoke condition.

We did not know the depth of the crater.

Steven C. De Rosa, a 29-year veteran of the City of New York (NY) Fire 
Department, is deputy chief of Division 3 in midtown Manhattan, where he has 
served for 10 years. He has developed numerous procedures for the department 
including high-rise tactics. 

Page 70

We knew there were fires burning around him, but the extent of the fire in the 
crater was unknown.

There was a possibility of additional collapse and further injury to rescue 
personnel.

Initially, the only units available to Vista Hotel command were engines 205, 55, 
and 204. I directed these engine companies to stretch a 2 l/ 2 inch line from a 
standpipe connection in the hotel lobby down the stairs to the B-l level and to 
the edge of the crater.

I then assigned Chief Richard Rewkowski, Battalion 32, the task of supervising 
the rescue attempt from the B-l level. Rewkowski, accompanied by Lt. McAllister, 
made his way down to the edge of the crater by following a search line stretched 
by Rescue 1. They made verbal contact with Shea.

Conditions at this point were severe, with dense, black, irritating smoke 
escaping from the fires still burning below. The concrete edge of the crater was 
jagged, and broken pieces of reinforcing rods protruded out over the void. 
Rewkowski surveyed the situation and decided to attempt to reach Shea by 
lowering a firefighter down to his location. By this time, additional units 
arrived at the scene and were dispatched from the hotel lobby command post to 
the below-grade area.

I assigned Squad 1, commanded by Lt. John Fox, to attempt the rope rescue and 
directed ladder companies 101 and 6 to assist by clearing the area of debris and 
providing portable lights. As the ladder companies and the squad prepared for 
the lifesaving rope operation, the engine companies worked to get their hoseline 
into position.

The smoke continued to be a problem, along with the high noise level from broken 
water mains and activated car alarms. Through the dense smoke, members could see 
fires burning at many different locations. In light of these severe conditions, 
I assigned Chief Anthony Adamo, Battalion 8, to assist Rewkowski in supervising 
operations. Lt. Fox knew the extreme danger involved in attempting this rescue. 
He chose to be the person lowered.

There was no substantial object to tie off to. It was decided to create a human 
anchor. A firefighter took the turns on the life belt and sat down on the 
concrete in proximity to the crater. Two firefighters held him by placing their 
arms around his chest and shoulders, and another

Page 71 

firefighter placed his body over the anchor firefighter's legs. Other personnel 
held the other end of the rope.

Fox crawled backward toward the crater's edge as a member held the antichafing 
device in place at the edge. Fox had to maneuver over the protruding reinforcing 
rods before he dropped into the pit. His weight caused the concrete slab to tilt 
down toward the crater, and he dropped several feet. With the shift in the slab, 
Rewkowski moved as many people back from the edge as possible as Fox was lowered 
to the crater floor. Fox, climbing over debris, located Shea and then informed 
Rewkowski of his position.

While the rescue attempt via rope was being conducted, Rescue Company 5 was 
assigned to find another way into the area. Personnel proceeded down a stairway 
to the B-2 level and started to search for Shea. In the process, they found and 
removed an injured civilian.

Firefighter Jack Tighe of Rescue 5 managed to make his way through and over the 
debris and burning cars into the pit where Shea lay injured. He arrived soon 
after Fox and together they quickly examined the injured firefighter. They 
decided to move him out from under the tilting concrete slab and away from the 
broken, gushing water mains. Fox called for a stokes basket to remove Shea.

It was decided to use 20-foot straight ladders to build ramps over which the 
basket could be moved upward to a safer area. Members of Ladder 15 and Rescue 5 
entered the crater and completed this task. By guiding the basket along these 
ladders, they were able to slowly bring Shea up and out of the crater.

Numerous units were involved in this complex and lengthy rescue. The method used 
was unconventional and dangerous. It was successfully completed due largely to 
the competency, bravery, and leadership demonstrated by the firefighters, 
company officers, and chief officers at the point of operations.

Page 72 

Above-Grade Tactics and Procedures for Search, Rescue, and Evacuation by John P. 
O'Connell


Since the elevator service in the WTC was knocked out of commission almost 
immediately, the stairways became the main means of egress for anyone trapped in 
the complex.

At this point, firefighters' primary concern was for the safe evacuation of all 
civilians from the towers. Since all the fire was contained in the below-grade 
levels and the stack effect was causing the smoke to rise through both towers 
and the Vista Hotel, a large part of the operation was committed to search and 
evacuation. Every hall, floor, staircase, room, and elevator had to be searched 
-a monumental task that required tremendous coordination and literally hundreds 
of firefighters.

STAIRWAY OPERATIONS AND LAYOUT 

The stairways in both towers are laid out identically; three stairways are 
enclosed in the center core of each tower. Stairways A and C terminate at the 
mezzanine level and lead to the interior plaza level; stairway B terminates on 
the concourse or grade level. People using the B stairs had no problem exiting 
to the street and receiving medical attention, if necessary. However, this was 
not the case with civilians using the A and C stairways. As these people exited 
the stairs, some wound up in a balcony area off the mezzanine and had to be 
taken out of the building in tower ladder buckets.

Some civilians were able to make their way from the A and C stairs to a hallway 
that intersected with the B stairway. Unfortunately, as these additional people 
tried to enter the B stairway, they encountered a stairway already filled with 
people coming down from the interior. As the hallway got congested and civilians 
log-jammed, anxiety started to set in. After the fire department arrived, 
firefighters were placed in strategic locations to guide civilians to the proper 
egress area. This action helped alleviate confusion and ensured that the 
evacuation would continue in a smooth and safe manner.

John P. O'Connell has been a firefighter with the City of New York (NY) Fire 
Department for 14 years and, as a member of Rescue Company 3 in the Bronx, has 
more than six years of collapse rescue experience. He is an instructor of 
shoring and building collapse at FDNY's Training Academy and has been involved 
in writing and teaching the department's collapse and shoring training 
curriculum. O'Connell is a New York state-certified fire instructor who spent 
mote than 10 years in the building construction industry. He conducts seminars 
around the country on collapse search and rescue. 

Page 73

The problem was that these civilians normally come to work, enter the lobby, and 
take elevators to their floors, never realizing they should be aware of stairway 
locations in case of a fire or emergency. Consequently, many of them were not 
familiar with the stair layouts and became disoriented.

During the initial stages, operations in the stairways themselves were at best 
difficult. Many civilians started to self-evacuate immediately after the 
explosion occurred and the building started to fill with smoke. It was a major 
problem for firefighters to ascend the stairs against the mass of people coming 
down at them. The stairways simply were not wide enough to accommodate that many 
civilians coming down and firefighters in full gear with tools trying to go up. 
Congested stairs slowed down operations; firefighters became frustrated since it 
literally was an uphill battle to get anywhere.

For the most part, people coming down the stairways moved in an orderly fashion. 
Some were more frightened than others, and some gave helpful information and 
informed firefighters of the locations of disabled and distressed people. 
Firefighters were constantly giving directions and calming civilians descending 
the stairs. The fire department's main concern at this time was to concentrate 
on rescuing civilians who were in immediate peril. There were reports of several 
people with cardiac problems who would require resuscitators. In addition, a 
number of disabled civilians were trapped with no way to get down except to be 
carried. A number of pregnant women were in the building. Firefighters 
prioritized the removal of people with special needs based on their conditions 
and the areas in which they were located. One woman who was six months pregnant 
was carried down 20 floors in a stokes basket to the safety of the street. 
Another woman was taken down from the 44th floor to the triage area staffed by 
doctors and nurses on the 33rd floor, where she was treated.

Numerous disabled people located throughout the structure had to be dealt with 
immediately. According to existing codes, elevators may be considered a primary 
egress for physically challenged people; however, since all elevator service was 
knocked out for extended periods of time, disabled people were stranded on 
whatever floors they happened to be on when the explosion took place. Those 
people in need of medical attention had to be carried down the stairways -not an 
easy task given the situation. Two firefighters carried one wheelchair occupant 
down to the street from the 19th floor. Members of a ladder company took turns 
with the strenuous task of carrying another wheelchair user down 35 flights of 
stairs. Other firefighters carried down people with cardiac problems, using 
whatever means were readily available. People were carried down in

Page 74 

stokes baskets and stair chairs, as well as whatever was available on the floors 
where the civilians were located, such as office and cafeteria chairs.

Of the numerous items pressed into service, the stokes baskets proved to be the 
most demanding to employ. Due to the lack of maneuverability in the stairways, 
only two firefighters could descend with the stokes at any given time. This made 
handling the stokes a fatiguing job; the firefighter at the bottom had to handle 
most of the weight while the firefighter at the top tried to balance the 
stretcher. If someone coming up the stairs knocked into one of the firefighters 
or the basket, or the victim himself moved it, firefighters had an extremely 
difficult time keeping the stokes from tipping over. Overall, this made for very 
slow descents. Every several floors, the firefighters carrying the basket had to 
be relieved.

When the emergency lighting went out in the stairwells, many people became 
scared because of the darkness. Only when firefighters started to use their 
flashlights and talked calmly to the civilians did their fear start to subside, 
and the civilians once again proceeded in an orderly manner to the street. The 
operation became much more difficult after the lights went out because people 
had to slow their descent and needed constant reassurance that everything would 
be all right.

FLOOR SEARCHES 

To ensure that no one had been overcome or trapped in the hotel and towers, 
methodical searches of all floors, halls, rooms, and offices had to be done. 
This involved the systematic floor-by-floor primary and secondary searches of 
several million square feet of habitable space -an extensive and time-consuming 
task. The firefighters used two main tools to gain entry into these rooms and 
offices -the traditional set of "irons," an axe and a halligan tool. In some 
cases, a maul or sledgehammer would be substituted for the axe to provide extra 
striking power for heavier doors. The other tool used with great success was the 
hydraulically operated forcible entry tool (i. e., Rabbit Tool), consisting of a 
hand-operated pump and a set of jaws that exert more than four tons of force. 
This type of tool is designed primarily for use on doors that open inward. An 
extremely valuable tool, it can be used over and over again without fatiguing 
firefighters. It is especially useful in heavy smoke conditions where it is 
extremely difficult and dangerous to swing an axe.

The entire complex itself had more than 4,000 doors, many of which were locked 
and had to be forced. As is the case for most offices in the metropolitan area, 
security and safety concerns dictated that most companies leave their doors open 
on the inside but locked on the outside.

Page 75 

When many civilians exited their offices and started to self-evacuate, their 
doors all locked behind them. As the firefighters came upon each office, they 
had no way of knowing if victims were inside these offices; each office had to 
be checked. It is FDNY's policy to conduct two searches of each area -a primary 
search and a secondary search. The primary search is conducted as soon as 
conditions allow, usually by the first-in ladder company. Performed while the 
fire is still in progress and in heavy smoke conditions, primary search is a 
search for life. The second type of search, secondary search, normally is done 
when fire conditions have abated somewhat. It is a much more thorough search, 
designed to make absolutely sure no one is trapped or overcome. This search 
generally is performed by another company for ease of operations.

The towers were erected with a central core system design -that is, the 
elevators and stairways are in the center of the building on all floors. This 
led to some logistical problems. After the installation of the core system, an 
open compartment area almost one acre in size was left. Also, each area was laid 
out differently according to the needs of the tenants on each floor. Both 
situations made for slow progress in the searches. In addition, many business 
offices had interior rooms, many with locked doors. Firefighters had to gain 
entry to every one of these areas to ensure no one was in jeopardy or needed 
medical assistance. One ladder company that searched numerous floors throughout 
the day forced more than 100 doors -a labor-intensive and time-consuming 
operation.

COMMUNICATIONS 

The most important aspect of any fire situation is communications. Good 
communications is what makes the job work smoothly and efficiently, since 
conditions in emergency circumstances change constantly. The WTC disaster was no 
exception. If anything, communications were even more important than usual, due 
to the size and complexity of the operation.

The portable radios FDNY currently has in use are of the VHF type. They come in 
a leather case with an adjustable harness, complete with an extension piece that 
allows firefighters to carry the speaker microphone up higher and in front of 
the right shoulder. A five-inch, rubber-encased helical antenna makes adjustment 
to the body easier and affords greater comfort to the wearer. There are two 
knobs located on the top of the portable radio itself. One is a selector switch 
that permits the use of six separate channels; the other is an adjustment knob 
for squelch, which helps tune out interference. To reduce damage and protect the 
portable radio from smoke, heat, and adverse weather conditions, the unit is 
worn under the turnout coat.

Page 76 

Six portable-radio channels are available for firefighter use. Channel 1 is the 
universal portable radio channel -that is, it is used by all boroughs. The other 
channels firefighters use share frequencies that the mobile field units use to 
communicate with the Manhattan Dispatchers Office. The use of these channels 
requires authorization at each particular incident.

CHANNEL USAGE 

Four main channels are used for major incidents like the WTC disaster; they also 
can be implemented for other situations. Two of the four are tactical channels 
and two are command channels; they can be used in any combination, depending on 
the situation. Channel 1 is the primary tactical channel and the initial channel 
used by all units. The secondary tactical channel is used by certain units when 
Channel 1 is heavily taxed, which was the case at this incident; the channel 
varies from borough to borough. The incident commander can order this channel's 
use at any time.

The two remaining channels are command channels. The primary command channel is 
restricted to use by chief officers; it is designed to permit better operations 
coordination and supervision and presents the fire commander with an effective 
span of control. The secondary command channel is used by chief officers who 
need to communicate when the primary command channel is taxed. In the WTC 
incident, both command channels were used heavily.

ELEVATOR OPERATIONS 

Since the elevators in the twin towers are the primary means of moving between 
floors, many people were trapped when the bomb knocked out the buildings' power. 
From a rescue standpoint, elevator operations were the most extensive and time-
consuming part of the rescue attempt.

The incident involved 210 elevators, all of which had to be searched. Each tower 
has 99 elevators, local and express; the Vista Hotel has another dozen. The 
towers are broken down into three main elevator zones. Zone 1 started at the 
concourse level, zone 2 at the sky lobby on the 44th floor, and zone three at 
the sky lobby on the 78th floor. Transfers to local elevators took place at 
these levels. Within each zone were local and express banks. The express cars 
were the larger of the two types, with a capacity of 55 people; the local cars 
could handle considerably fewer people.

Page 77 

Only three elevator cars -one freight and two passenger -serviced the entire 
height of each tower. Although this was a novel idea in elevator design at the 
time the elevators were built, it was not at all helpful to firefighting forces. 
The following are some of the problems encountered:

When power was knocked out, the elevators were stalled everywhere.

There were no floor indicators in the lobbies to show the floors on which the 
elevators were stranded. This caused major delays. It was time consuming just to 
find out where the elevators were stuck before rescue attempts could be made.

The express elevators to the sky lobbies were located in "blind" shafts, meaning 
there is no access to that shaft between the entrance and exit points of that 
elevator. The only way to get at these cars was to breach the shaft walls.

Since we were dealing with a core system, with all the elevator banks 
constructed on top of one another, the smoke from the explosion and fire found 
its way to the upper floors. The shock waves from the explosion blew down the 
doors in the subbasement shaft, giving the smoke full access to the elevator 
shaft. Numerous people trapped in these elevators suffered from smoke 
inhalation.


The rescue of trapped civilians started as soon as the firefighters entered the 
lobby. A Hurst tool was used to force open several of the car doors, releasing 
numerous people. A local car hoistway door was forced open because voices inside 
were heard asking for help. Firefighters were a bit shocked, after forcing the 
door using two Rabbit Tools and a halligan, to find no car -only two men 
standing on steel support beams in the shaft, both with bleeding hands. They had 
somehow entered the shaft from above and slid down the cables to the concourse 
level -an extremely dangerous operation; they were lucky they were not killed.

Many companies breached the shaftway walls to rescue trapped people with 
conventional tools. The Hurst tool, Rabbit Tool, and conventional set of irons 
all were used to open the elevator doors. One company forced a door on the 47th 
floor and nine semiconscious victims fell out of the elevator like a set of 
dominoes, into the waiting arms of the rescuers. Firefighters opened another 
elevator on the 44th floor and found 10 unconscious victims. Happily, all these 
people recovered from their ordeal. As the operation progressed, elevator 
mechanics in the building

Page 78 

helped fire department personnel. They were able to manually move some of the 
cars to a higher or lower termination point, depending on the counterweight. 
Their help was invaluable, and it made the operation move along quickly and more 
efficiently.

Page 79 

Search Tactics and Procedures Below Grade by John P. O'Connell 


As the fire was being controlled and the extent of the explosion became clear, 
Rescue Co. 3, FDNY's primary building collapse unit, was assigned to search the 
massive destruction caused by the bombing. A tremendous amount of crushing 
debris had been caused by both the explosion and the subsequent collapse of 
several floors of reinforced concrete, each more than a foot thick, thus, a high 
victim survival rate was not likely. However, the possibility that even one 
victim was trapped alive justified the operation.

As information with regard to the whereabouts of workers slowly was reported in, 
we found out that close to two dozen maintenance personnel were having lunch in 
a cafeteria in the vicinity of the blast center only minutes before the blast. 
We also considered the possibility that several workers and civilians may have 
been located in the parking garages when the blast occurred.

As Rescue Co. 3's void search team was being assembled, a staging area for our 
tools and equipment was set up in a safe area close to our chosen point of entry 
into the bomb crater. Each firefighter checked his own equipment and all tools 
and instruments to be utilized in the search. Each firefighter's equipment 
included full turnout gear, since smoldering fires from cars and debris still 
were burning; handlights which would be our main source of illumination while 
searching the rubble; portable radios so we could remain in constant contact 
with each other if necessary; and SCBAs.

Each team also laid out and checked the equipment it would use -the thermal 
imaging camera and search camera., carbon monoxide meters, oxygen indicators, 
explosimeters, search ropes, and hand tools.

Four two-man sections were organized and briefed. For obvious safety reasons, 
they were to keep in visual and voice contact at all times. Team one was 
assigned the unit's thermal imaging camera; team two the

John P. O'Connell has been a firefighter with the City of New York (NY) Fire 
Department for 14 years and, as a member of Rescue Company 3 in the Bronx, has 
mote than six years of collapse rescue experience. He is an instructor of 
shoring and building collapse at FDNY's Training Academy and has been involved 
in writing and teaching the department's collapse and shoring training 
curriculum. O'Connell is a New York state-certified fire instructor and spent 
more than 10 years in the building construction industry. He conducts seminars 
around the country on collapse search and shoring operations. 

Page 8O

search camera; and teams three and four each had the various meters and worked 
in conjunction with teams one and two. The main objective of these void search 
teams was to locate and extricate any victims who may have been caught in the 
blast area at the time of the explosion. An initial surface search of the entire 
area was undertaken for two reasons:

l to determine the extent of the damage and evaluate the dangers in the 
operating environment, and

l to determine how many and what types of voids were created by the blast and 
whether they could be effectively searched for survivors.

Since each rescue firefighter was equipped with a radio, one team member stayed 
on the primary tactical channel to monitor the overall operation and listen for 
problems, condition updates, or any other pertinent information that was being 
relayed continually by the command post. The other search team member switched 
to a secondary tactical channel that gave the teams direct access to each other 
and the void team officer on a less-crowded frequency. This way, new information 
could be immediately relayed to each team.

COLLAPSE VOIDS 

When the teams were ready, we descended into the lowest level of bomb damage via 
a flight of stairs unaffected by the blast. The majority of the debris had 
settled at this location. Our entry point was blocked almost from the start; in 
the access doorway to this level, about two-thirds of the way up the opening, 
one of the sections of concrete floor from above, about 50 feet wide and 80 feet 
long, had come to rest in a supported lean-to collapse. As we slowly penetrated 
the area, the awesome destruction caused by the explosion began to unfold. As we 
entered the blast area by hoisting ourselves on top of the slab blocking the 
doorway, we stopped momentarily to examine the destruction. Immediately to our 
left stood a shear wall, constructed mainly of large steel beams and some 
masonry block. This was one of the stabilizing walls in the building; the steel 
"H" beams were roughly four by four feet, and every other set of columns was 
diagonally cross-braced for strength. The columns themselves were undamaged, 
however, very little of the masonry building material was standing. This 
material created a debris pile approximately 15 feet high along the entire face 
of the wall. It would be extremely difficult to search and climb through.

Page 81 

Diagonally across on our left, the entire side of the crater lay in a lean-to 
collapse supported either on top of machinery or directly on the lowest level. 
This had resulted in tons of debris being deposited into the bottom of the 
crater. Numerous objects hung precariously on these tilted sections of concrete 
-several automobiles, equipment, tables, chairs, and lockers from a destroyed 
locker room were just some of the items ready to come crashing down at any time. 
In one section, a vehicle was hanging over the edge of broken slab, ready to 
fall into the area where the rescue teams were operating. The only thing 
stopping it from falling was a group of reinforcing bars sticking out of the 
concrete -not exactly a substantial holding device.

Directly across from the stairwell entrance, all the levels that had been 
destroyed were sheared off in an unsupported lean-to fashion. The slabs were 
leaning precariously, with sections of loose concrete hanging by only a few 
strands of reinforcing bar, an extremely dangerous condition. On our right side, 
where the ramps for the parking garage were located, we discovered similar 
conditions. Unsupported sections of concrete were hanging but, in this case, 
without a large amount of debris accumulated on the floors, since they had been 
in continuous use as the parking lot egress up until the time of the explosion.

Directly to the right of the stairway entrance was the most dangerous area 
within the crater. Two levels were hanging in a totally unsupported lean to 
position; and a large section of the flooring, about 30 by 40 feet, was hanging 
by only a few pieces of reinforcing bar. Just above this area was a storage 
section, where dozens of chairs and tables were stacked more than 10 feet high 
and leaning dangerously towards the blast crater. This area was monitored 
closely throughout the operation.

The lowest level of the blast damage was a machinery room. Maneuvering along 
this level was extremely dangerous since it was filled with openings that 
normally were hoistways to the level below for replacement of large piping and 
machinery. They usually were covered by steel gratings, most of which had been 
dislodged or were missing after the blast.

One void search team concentrated on this level, where tons of debris had come 
to rest on top of and around the large machinery, creating dozens of individual 
voids. Each of these voids had to be systematically searched, since it was 
highly possible that workers may have been trapped in one of them. As these 
individual voids were being searched, the search camera proved to be an 
excellent tool for probing into smaller voids that firefighters could not 
physically penetrate.

Page 82 

The four void search teams from Rescue Co. 3 searched the entire explosion area 
and perimeter for more than two hours in some of the most severe collapse 
conditions ever encountered. Moving around the collapse area was extremely time-
consuming and difficult due to the mass of broken concrete and debris, and much 
of the area was unstable. Conditions had to be evaluated and monitored with each 
step as the search team firefighters methodically covered the entire collapse 
area. Operations also were hampered by the fact that lighting was limited to 
handlights and some portable lights.

Conditions were so dangerous that when the Federal Bureau of Investigation and 
the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms took charge of the scene after the 
fire had been extinguished, their personnel were not permitted to operate in the 
area until the situation was made safer by removing the hazards. This took 
several days.

Page 83 

The Thermal Imaging Camera by John P. O'Connell 

The thermal imaging camera was developed in the 1980s by engineers tom Great 
Britain. The system is based on a concept called the "pyre-electric effect." In 
simpler terms, this means the camera can pick up minute variations in the 
electrical polarization of an object resulting from the difference in 
temperature between it and the objects around it. By differentiating objects by 
their thermal temperature, the camera is able to "see" through smoke and 
darkness. It enables its user to identify fire sources or the images of overcome 
victims much faster than conventional means can.

The camera is in a cylindrical container constructed of injection-molded 
plastic, which provides protection against damage. The container is waterproof 
and sealed to conform with specifications for use in flammable atmospheres. The 
display is presented on a three-by five-inch cathode ray tube surrounded by a 
protective hood. It is a hand-held, battery-operated instrument weighing less 
than nine pounds. It lasts up to two hours on one set of batteries.

It is ideal for use in darkness; it can sense a living person from up to 200 
feet away. However, it cannot "see" through objects. In heavy smoke or darkness, 
the camera will be able to distinguish objects by their thermal differences, but 
it will not "see" past obstructions such as concrete and masonry; even drywall 
will block any readings.

As we operated in the bomb crater itself, the camera was an excellent tool for 
"panning" the entire surface for exposed victims in a timely fashion. After this 
search was completed and the intensive search into the heavy debris of concrete 
slabs, destroyed cars, and other supplies and equipment was begun, the camera's 
effectiveness was diminished due to the heavy mass of debris blocking any signs 
of trapped victims.

Page 84 

The Search Camera by John P. O'Connell 

FDNY recently placed a search camera on Rescue Co. 3's collapse apparatus. The 
mobile search camera, easily operated by one firefighter, is a highly technical 
system designed to locate trapped victims in building-collapse situations. The 
search system combines a miniature video camera with a sensitive microphone, 
allowing rescuers to examine, and listen for trapped victims in, collapse voids 
-even if the void access is too small for firefighters to physically penetrate.

The system consists of three main items -the search probe, the chest monitor, 
and the component pack. The search probe consists of a telescoping pole with the 
camera housing and control handle attached on opposite ends. The telescoping 
pole, consisting of four sections, can collapse to a length of 32 inches and can 
be extended beyond seven feet. The dustproof and water-resistant camera housing 
contains the camera, the microphone, the light, and the speaker element and is 
connected to the probe by a two-way articulating joint. This construction allows 
the camera housing to rotate more than 180 degrees to the right or left and is 
remotely controlled from the probe's handle. The light and audio systems also 
are digitally controlled by switches on the handle. The telescoping search probe 
allows the search team firefighter to insert the camera head through void holes 
as small as two inches in diameter. The search team firefighter looks for any 
visible signs of trapped victims on the chest-mounted video monitor and listens 
through the headphones. The integrated two-way communication system allows the 
rescue firefighter to talk directly with any possible victims.

A high-resolution video camera and monitor comprise the video system. Light is 
provided by a variable intensity lamp system, which allows the video system to 
operate in areas of total darkness. The camera's most effective viewing distance 
is from six inches to 20 feet. The chest-mounted monitor features a black and 
white screen measuring seven inches diagonally. It enables the search team 
firefighters to easily determine what is happening by manipulating the probe. 
The monitor is enclosed in a pouch equipped with quick-release buckles that are 
attached to the component pack harness.

The audio system consists of a sensitive microphone with an amplifier. The 
firefighter operating the tool can wear headphones with a

Page 85 

boom microphone attached to them. A speaker element is attached to the camera 
housing at the end of the probe, enabling two-way communications with survivors 
to take place.

The component pack contains a sealed lead acid battery, good for four hours of 
continuous use, along with the unit's electrical subsystems. It is housed in a 
harness worn on the back and is equipped with shoulder and waist straps. For 
ease of operation, the chest monitor is attached to this harness and is fully 
adjustable.

Page 86 

Response by Manhattan Dispatchers by Herb Eysser 

On the day the World Trade Center (WTC) was bombed, the Manhattan Dispatchers 
Office was involved in its usual routine of transmitting numerous fire alarms. 
There are more than 1,000 high-rise buildings on the island of Manhattan, and 
alarms are received from a number of them on a daily basis. Most do not result 
in fire duty and are classified as emergency unwarranted alarms. However, our 
office had been unusually quiet for February. In the past 10 days, there had 
been only one greater alarm in Manhattan. Usually, the Manhattan Dispatchers 
Office is a "winter borough," with a large percentage of our annual fire 
activity taking place between Thanksgiving and St. Patrick's Day. After that, 
activity falls off sharply as the warm weather approaches.

An hour before the WTC bombing, another dispatcher and I had gone out to buy the 
office's lunch. On our way back through the snow-covered paths of Central Park, 
I had remarked that our office had been quiet for the month of February. Shortly 
thereafter, I ate those words along with my lunch.

The WTC has always been one of our best "customers." Daily, the Manhattan 
dispatchers transmit boxes 8084 and 8087, box locations for WTC Tower 1 and 
Tower 2, respectively, for various types of alarms. Over the years, the WTC had 
been the scene of several greater-alarm fires and quite a few all-hands (one-
alarm working) fires. However, nothing had ever reached the magnitude of what 
was to happen that afternoon, February 26, 1993.

A DELUGE OF CALLS 

All hell broke loose at 1218 hours. All at once the incoming fire phones started 
ringing. With only three dispatchers available to answer some 15 incoming fire 
phones all ringing at the same time (five other dispatchers were doing radio and 
computer duty), our jobs became overwhelming from the beginning. I picked up the 
first call and was told by a woman that an explosion had occurred in the 
basement of the Vista

Herb Eysser is a Manhattan fire alarm dispatcher with 26 years of experience 
with the City of New York (NY) Fire Department. He also serves as research 
director for the Uniform Firefighters Association in New York City. 

Page 87

Hotel on West Street. Based on this information, Box 69 was transmitted. 
However, Engine 10 and Ladder 10, whose quarters are directly across the street 
from the WTC, had heard the explosion and responded as the street rapidly filled 
up with a very heavy smoke condition.

The Manhattan Dispatchers Office reacted quickly to the unending flood of 
incoming fire calls and urgent messages received from the field. The foremost 
thing for a fire dispatcher to remember is to keep cool and set out to deal 
calmly with the unfolding major emergency. For the first 10 minutes after the 
explosion, I continued to answer the incoming phone calls. After several 
minutes, it became clear that the 22-story Vista Hotel, known as 3 World Trade 
Center, was not the only building filling up with heavy smoke. Almost 
immediately after transmitting the initial alarm, we began to receive frantic 
calls from the two 110-story Twin Towers, known as 1 World Trade Center (Tower 
1) and 2 World Trade Center (Tower 2).

In my 26 years as a Manhattan fire alarm dispatcher, I had never before spoken 
with so many people from one incident who thought they were going to die. Their 
dire situation was magnified by the fact that the explosion had knocked out all 
power to the huge complex. Without lights, elevators, or fire alarm 
communications, more than 100,000 workers and visitors were convinced that the 
Twin Towers would become their "Twin Tombs." Many of the hundreds of telephone 
calls our office received were from 1 WTC, where the explosion had blown down 
walls, allowing heavy smoke from the Vista Hotel's basement to quickly enter the 
tower's stairwells and elevator shafts, moving up in a chimney-like effect.

Our main mission was to provide the units rapidly being ordered by the chief 
officers at the scene while continuing to answer the tidal wave of frantic calls 
from those trapped in the towers. By 1254 hours, Box 69 had escalated to a fifth 
alarm. Box 8084, transmitted at 1229 to cover 1 WTC, escalated to a third alarm 
by 1252 hours.

The numerous reports we were receiving of people trapped in 2 WTC were at first 
merged with the 1 WTC operations. However, as the 2 WTC reports became more 
numerous, we decided to make it a separate incident, transmitting Box 8087 for 2 
WTC. Although there were serious problems within 2 WTC, they were not as severe 
as those in 1 WTC; Tower 2 was located farther away from ground zero. About this 
time, the chief of department requested 40 additional engine and ladder 
companies to cover 1 WTC. We were ordered to obtain the additional units from 
Brooklyn.

Page 88 

ASSIGNMENT, DISPATCH, ROUTING CALLS 

By this time I had switched positions in the office and was controlling the 
actual assignment and dispatch of companies to the various boxes. I requested 
the Brooklyn Dispatchers Office to transmit a third alarm from one of its box 
locations not too far away and then direct the units to respond to the WTC. This 
is a borough call (the name is a relic of the old "bell telegraph" dispatch 
system). I also was ordered to transmit a second alarm from a box within 
Manhattan and send those units to the WTC. I complied by transmitting Box 100 at 
the Staten Island Ferry Terminal. This is known as a simultaneous call, after 
the old bell system.

Our office had reached peak operational levels. All eight dispatchers on duty 
had their hands full. We had extended ourselves to the maximum. At no point, 
however, did we lose control of the situation. We complied with hundreds of 
requests from the field. The three dispatchers receiving incoming calls answered 
hundreds of calls from people trapped on various floors of the towers: "400 
people trapped on the 90th floor," "300 people trapped on the 75th floor," and 
so on were common communications. We received numerous reports of locations of 
pregnant women, people with heart problems, and so forth. Such calls were 
continuous for at least 2 l/ 2 hours.

It should be noted that when all 15 incoming fire phone lines are busy, 
additional calls are rerouted to other borough fire dispatch offices. Those 
offices enter the information received into the city's fire dispatch computer 
for subsequent dispatch by Manhattan dispatchers (the dispatch messages show up 
on Manhattan Dispatchers' computers).

FDNY operates a Field Communications Unit (FieldCorn) to coordinate 
communications at major incidents. Manned by a fire alarm dispatcher and a fire 
officer, the unit responded to the WTC incident. The Manhattan Dispatchers 
Office relayed numerous trapped occupant reports through the FieldCorn Unit, 
which then were hand-carried to the FDNY command post. FDNY dispatchers first 
transmitted these reports via radio and later to computer mobile display 
terminals in the FieldCorn Unit.

COMPUTER TROUBLE 

However, in the middle of this major disaster, our computer alarm dispatch 
started to fail, creating a major problem for us. It should be noted that before 
the explosion, a repairman had been in our office attempting to repair a part of 
the fire dispatch computer. As the WTC bombing reached the lbalarm level and 
hundreds of telephone calls and

Page 89 

orders from the field were entered into the computer, it simply could not handle 
the volume. 

We took a big gamble and decided to stay with the computer rather than switch to 
the old manual dispatch system. We weighed the decision carefully. We knew we 
had sent a small army of firefighters to the scene and that, therefore, the fire 
should be controlled in a short time. We also felt that enough time had passed 
to allow firefighters to reach the upper floors, which would stop the high rate 
of telephone calls. Also, several dispatchers had been called in from home on 
overtime and were arriving at the office to give us a hand. In addition, the 
president of the dispatchers union had arrived and was setting up the manual 
chip board, in case the computer crashed.

In addition to land units, FDNY's fireboats were dispatched to the incident. A 
member on one of the boats that responded on the second alarm for Box 69 from 
the North River berth reported he could see trapped WTC occupants many floors 
up, waving bright red drapes to get attention. At the same moment the fireboat 
was transmitting his message, I looked up and saw these same trapped office 
workers on live TV coverage from the scene. This gave all of us in the Manhattan 
Dispatchers Office a good visual idea of what was going on. Live shots also were 
being shown of WTC office workers fleeing the towers, most of them with faces 
blackened from the heavy smoke produced by the burning automobiles in the Vista 
Hotel's basement garage.

As the incident entered its third hour, the overall situation began to improve. 
Extra dispatchers were on hand, the dispatch computer was now holding its own. 
and we felt the worst had past. However, we still were receiving reports of many 
people trapped on the very high floors, which we continued to pass on to the 
command post. Dispatchers had constantly maintained coverage for the rest of 
Manhattan through requests to the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens. These other 
boroughs dispatched fire companies to relocate into empty Manhattan fire 
stations.

Two chief dispatchers arrived in the office to assume command and also give us a 
hand in more routine matters. As 1500 hours approached, we started to feel that 
the situation was becoming more stable. We also felt a great sense of 
accomplishment -we had weathered a very serious situation. Although six persons 
died below grade as a direct result of the explosion, not one life was lost 
above the lobby floor.

Page 90 

LESSONS LEARNED 

In reviewing the entire operation during subsequent tours of duty, the Manhattan 
Dispatchers Office came to the following conclusions and lessons learned.

1. On the day of the WTC explosion. the Manhattan Central Office was staffed 
with a supervising dispatcher and seven dispatchers -the minimum staffing level 
adequate to handle most incidents that occur.

However, when an emergency like #is one does strike, it is extremely important 
to order additional dispatchers and supervisors into the office to assist with 
the actual dispatch operation and to provide relief for the initial dispatch 
group, as traditionally has been done in the cases of civil disturbances, major 
storms, and extremely heavy fire periods, and which was done for the WTC 
incident.

2. The Commuter Assist Dispatch system has been in use by FDNY since 1977. when 
it was installed in the Brooklyn Dispatch Office.

Several years later, it was installed in the Manhattan office. It is a first-
class aid assisting the dispatching force in transmitting fire alarms. However, 
it does have its limitations during a major emergency. This raises the question, 
In the middle of a major fire emergency, do you switch to the manual mode? If 
you do, you gain some control of the situation. However, the manual system works 
at a slower rate; it takes some time to set everything up and, in reality, not 
everyone is proficient in its operation, as it is a difficult system to learn.

In the case of the WTC incident, staying on a computer system that could 
possibly crash caused some anxious moments. One major concern was that the 
computer would lose some of its memory. One of the main reasons we stayed with 
the computer was that our supervisors wanted a computer record of all activity 
at the WTC.

*** 

Those of us who "stood on the bridge" the day the WTC was bombed all feel we did 
our best at a time when our office turned into a madhouse within minutes of 1218 
hours. I have worked for some other major incidents, including the civil 
disturbance and firestorm after Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed in 1968 and 
the night the city went totally dark in 1977, triggering large-scale fire 
activity and looting. Nothing, however, compares with working during the 16-
alarm WTC bombing.

Page 91 

EMS Response to the Explosion by Zachary Goldfarb and Steven Kuhr 

The detonation of the terrorists' bomb under the World Trade Center (WTC) 
complex on February 26, 1993, created the largest technological disaster New 
York City had ever experienced. The bombing also initiated the most significant 
emergency medical service (EMS) response in the city's history.

NYC* EMS 

The New York City Emergency Medical Service (NYC* EMS) is a third-service public 
safety and health care agency whose mission includes the provision of 
prehospital emergency medical care and transportation throughout the five 
boroughs. NYC* EMS operates the 911 communica-tions and control center 
responsible for coordinating the response of municipal, hospital-based, and 
mutual-aid resources to medical emergen-cies and is the municipal agency 
responsible for coordinating and directing prehospital care resources and 
operations during a disaster.

Responding to more than 2,800 requests for service daily from 16 ambulance 
stations citywide, NYC* EMS operates some 220 ambulances on the day shift. Field 
supervision is structured through a uniformed chain of command. Each station is 
commanded by a deputy chief who is responsible for EMS operations within the 
district served by that station. Each station has a captain serving as executive 
officer and fields one or more patrol supervisors (lieutenants) on each shift. 
Patrol supervisors' responsibilities include all field activities within their 
response areas, with special emphasis on immediate, proactive response to 
multiple casualty incidents (MCIs) or unusual events.

Zachary Goldfarb, AS, EMT-P, is an assistant chief of the New York City 
Emergency Medical Service. The author of the New York City Emergency Medical 
Action (disaster) Plan, he is currently the Bronx borough commander and served 
as a division commander at the World Trade Center disaster. He writes and 
lectures on EMS and disaster-related topics.

Steven Kuhr, CEM, EMT-P, is a deputy chief of the New York City Emergency 
Medical Service -Bronx Borough Command. He is a nationally certified emergency 
manager and served as the mutual-aid coordinator and planning division officer 
at the World Trade Center disaster. He writes and lectures on EMS and disaster-
related topics. 

Page 92 

DISASTER PREPAREDNESS 

NYC* EMS responds to several MCIs daily. Our Emergency Medical Action (disaster) 
Plan is activated when an incident produces more than five patients or exceeds 
the capabilities of a two-ambulance response. NYC* EMS has used the incident 
command system (ICS) since 1982; it is used during all MCI operations and 
unusual events.

An MCI preplan program is in place; its goal is to identify and develop response 
plans for MCIs at locations with above-average potential for their occurrence, 
such as transportation hubs, high-occupancy locations, and hazardous-materials 
storage sites. The plans consider the best approach routes, staging locations, 
command posts, special hazards, obstructive characteristics, and resources 
available on site. Plan data are carried by supervisors on patrol and maintained 
in the communications center for transmittal to field units. The WTC preplan has 
been in existence since 1985 and had been exercised on a regular basis through 
routine incident responses to the complex.

INITIAL RESPONSE 

Immediately following the WTC bomb's detonation, first calls to 911 reported an 
explosion and many injuries. Our earliest notice came seconds before, when our 
communications center monitored FDNY Engine 10 (quartered around the comer on 
Liberty Street), which reported the blast and transmitted a signal for a working 
fire.

Preliminary reports indicated that an electrical transformer had exploded under 
the Vista Hotel, located in the WTC complex. A transformer explosion is not a 
particularly unusual event in a high-rise building. Based on our experience with 
such events, our primary concern was potential polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) 
contamination from transformer oil.

The initial EMS assignment to the WTC was one basic life support (BLS) unit and 
a patrol supervisor. The assignment was upgraded to an MCI signal within three 
minutes, based on additional calls to 911. Three additional BLS units, one 
advanced life support (ALS) unit, three patrol supervisors, one chief officer, 
one major emergency response vehicle (MERV), and two squads were assigned by 
1223 hours.

The first-arriving ambulance encountered several patients in serious condition 
and began triage. The crew later reported a "feeling of impending doom" as the 
wounded surrounded them. The first-arriving

Page 93 

officer was at the scene within five minutes. He assumed command and initiated 
the ICS. [See diagram of command organization on the following Page.] 


In sizing up the incident, still thought to be a transformer explosion, he 
determined that the preplanned staging area was not well situated to serve the 
needs created by this incident. He established a staging area remote from the 
preplanned location and directed the initial crew to transport two critical red-
tag patients, who had been in a car at the entrance of the parking garage when 
the force from the blast hit them. Actions such as this one were instrumental in 
restricting the loss of life to those lost in the immediate blast.

Additional responding units arrived and encountered patients everywhere, as 
people fled the buildings or were removed to fresh air. Respondents were 
overwhelmed by the number of patients brought to them. Crowds of patients exited 
the buildings; others were simply lying in the street, exhausted and overcome. 
The first-arriving officer emphasized that triage was critical to the 
operation's effectiveness, as it enabled him to allocate resources and make 
quick, logical transport decisions.

CASUALTIES 

A small number of the patients had sustained major multiple trauma and bums from 
the blast effect. Most of the patients emerged from the buildings with classic 
"soot masks" on their faces and were suffering from smoke inhalation. There were 
many cases of minor trauma, including injuries sustained from falling glass and 
debris or while rapidly evacuating via darkened airways in extremely crowded 
conditions.

In addition to trauma, many people suffered exhaustion as a result of walking 
down from the upper floors. Preexisting medical conditions, especially asthma, 
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cardiac disease, and hypertension, were 
aggravated. In other instances, medical difficulties were associated with 
pregnancy.

EMS URBAN SEARCH AND RESCUE 

Victims disentangled from the debris and rubble in the parking garage area were 
brought out to waiting EMS triage teams. While the fire and police departments 
conducted search and rescue, the NYC* EMS Urban Search and Rescue Team was 
activated. This team is the medical component of the FEMA-sponsored New York 
City Urban Search and Rescue Task Force. The Task Force, consisting of members 
of the City of

Page 94 

NYC* EMS Incident Command Structure World Trade Center Bombing 

New York (NY) Fire Department, New York City Police Department, and New York 
City EMS, is one of the 25 teams ready for deployment to domestic disasters when 
multiple structural collapses have overwhelmed the local resources. The medical 
team, consisting of paramedics and supervisors, remained on the scene for 23 
days after the initial incident to provide medical support to the large number 
of law enforcement investigators and demolition crews operating below ground at 
the blast site. During this phase of the operation, NYC* EMS treated an 
additional 90 victims.

HELICOPTER MEDEVACS 

Among the scores of people who fled to the roofs of the towers, 28 with medical 
problems were airlifted by New York City police helicopters and brought to a 
landing zone adjacent to the EMS staging area. The landing zone was sectored as 
an EMS operational unit to allow for victim triage, stabilization, and 
transport. Victims were removed to medical facilities through the staging area.

Some controversy relating to the safety and operational benefits of helicopters 
has resulted in the fire and police departments' reviewing helicopter operations 
at high-rise emergencies.

COMMAND AND CONTROL 

As previously noted, ICS has been used by NYC* EMS to manage mass casualty 
incidents since 1982. Over the years, the NYC* EMS ICS, derived from other 
nationally recognized incident management systems and modified for medical 
disaster operations, has been employed at hundreds of disasters and MCIs -
including preplanned events such as rock concerts and the annual 26-mile New 
York City Marathon. Although some of these responses required the on-site 
evolution of an extensive ICS model, none were as detailed and complex as the 
ICS structure developed for the WTC response.

Due to the scale and complexities of New York City, the often vast scope of the 
emergencies that occur, and the size of the city's agencies, a unified command 
structure is used. Agencies command their own tactical efforts at the 
operational level, while interagency strategy development and activities occur 
at the command/ senior management level. At this disaster, the city's Office of 
Emergency Management established a strategic interagency command post. Senior 
managers from all agencies and disciplines were brought together to make policy 
and create a commonality of objectives throughout the operation.

Page 96 

The NYC* EMS ICS, which is modular in design, is structured to allow it to be 
readily integrated with the unified interagency command structure at any type of 
emergency. This approach facilitates responses to every day emergencies and 
major events, making them smooth and effective.

Taking a top-down approach, geographic and functional management units -sectors 
and divisions -were implemented as needed to meet the rapidly evolving and 
expanding situation. From a tactical command post located aboard the NYC* EMS 
Field Communications Unit, the EMS incident commander, a deputy chief from the 
Special Operations Division, unfolded an ambitious command structure to satisfy 
the obligations of patient care and provider control needs to ensure an 
efficient EMS response. Serving as senior advisor, the EMS chief of operations 
remained at the command post to oversee the incident's management.

Dozens of divisions and sectors were deployed to meet geographic and functional 
objectives. Thousands of people, hundreds of whom required medical intervention, 
were evacuating from countless exits throughout the 16-acre complex. In addition 
to conducting triage and treatment at these locations, issues such as 
communications, safety, and medical equipment logistical support needed to be 
addressed.

Divisions, established with all the necessary sectors to satisfy their specific 
requirements, were set up at Tower 1 (1 World Trade Center), Tower 2 (2 World 
Trade Center), the Vista Hotel (3 World Trade Center), 5 World Trade Center (a 
nine-story office building), and the Winter Garden atrium. Each division was 
headed by a division commander who reported directly to EMS command.

EMS command itself was a tremendous undertaking. The EMS incident commander's 
immediate staff was managed by a deputy chief from the Manhattan Division, who 
also served as the communications officer. Other command staff positions 
included those of interagency liaison, public information officer, and mutual-
aid coordinator and planning.

Although strategies were developed at the command level, independent strategy 
development was necessary at the division level as well. While tactics 
essentially were similar at each division, the scope and magnitude of the 
problems in each building were different. The basic objectives of each division 
were to collect, triage, treat, and transport the victims. Because the operation 
was spread over such a large area, no single strategic or tactical effort could 
be employed infirmly throughout the divisions. Independent thought, coupled with 
intense interdivision

Page 97 

coordination and communication, was necessary to ensure that each division was 
functioning in a harmonious manner. 

TRIAGE 

Triage was performed utilizing the Simple Triage and Rapid Treatment (START) 
system, which employs an extremely rapid clinical evaluation algorithm for 
patient evaluation and categorization into one of the four classic categories. 
All triaged victims were tagged using METTAGs, enabling us to track their 
condition and to avoid the need for multiple redundant assessments as the 
patients were moved.

Each of the geographic triage sectors was established in a location where a 
steady flow of building evacuees was passing through a natural funnel or choke 
point, such as the building exit. Since all did not require EMS services, touch-
triage assessment was used. Touch triage, which has been used for years at major 
annual events such as the New York City marathon, involves closely monitoring, 
but not interfering with, the egressing group by EMS personnel assigned to 
triage. When a person appearing to require assistance or EMS services is 
identified, the EMT makes contact with the person; performs a rapid assessment; 
and, if appropriate, removes the victim from the flow of evacuees into the 
triage area., where triage is completed. In this way, a large number of rapidly 
moving people can be assessed quickly without impeding the flow of egress.

As the buildings became tenable and the flow of evacuees lessened, forward 
triage sectors were established in the building lobbies and, ultimately, on the 
upper floors of the tower buildings. These forward triage sectors enabled EMS 
teams to respond quickly to reports of casualties on the upper floors and 
ultimately evolved into casualty collection points (CCPs).

CASUALTY COLLECTION POINTS 

The initial CCP was established very quickly following EMS arrival at the 
complex. An officer assigned to reconnaissance saw that many evacuees were 
leaving the complex in apparent distress, without their coats, in the snow and 
20-degree temperature. As he investigated where they were going, he noted their 
migration to the Winter Garden, an enclosed atrium and food court in the World 
Financial Center across the street. On entering the Winter Garden, he observed a 
large crowd of people requiring medical assistance. This operation naturally 
evolved into the Winter Garden Division.

Page 98 

Additional CCPs were established in the lobbies of nearby buildings and on 
commandeered transit buses in the surrounding streets. The forward triage areas 
on the upper floors of the towers gradually evolved into CCPs, as victims on the 
upper floors were gathered there to receive care and await emergency evacuation 
down the stairs or the restoration of power for elevator egress.

TREATMENT 

In the CCPs, paramedics and EMTs primarily administered oxygen, assessed 
patients, and gave psychological first aid. Most patients did well with this 
supportive therapy, but some required ALS care, including cardiac monitoring, 
intravenous line placement, and parenteral medication. When critical patients 
were detected through the triage process, where evacuation was possible, they 
were treated and transported rapidly to area hospitals. In several cases, 
critical patients were treated for extended periods of time on the upper levels 
of the towers until the logistics of their evacuation could be put into place.

Ordinarily, NYC* EMS paramedics utilize standing orders to provide initial ALS 
care and then are required to contact the EMS Telemetry Control Center physician 
for clearance to implement medical-control options. At this incident, the EMS 
medical director authorized the implementation of all medical-control options as 
standing orders, eliminating the need for telemetry contact and streamlining 
patient care in many cases.

Similar issues arose with those paramedics who responded from New Jersey on 
mutual aid. With the authorization of a New York State Department of Health 
representative at the scene, the New Jersey resources were permitted to utilize 
their standing orders and communicate with their own medical control in New 
Jersey, allowing them to provide a full spectrum of ALS care without burdening 
the New York City system.

TRANSPORT 

Patients requiring hospital care were transported to one of 17 hospitals in 
three boroughs. To minimize radio congestion, each division was directed to make 
its own hospital selections. Although this was potentially problematic, the 
geographic layout of the scene facilitated each division's routing of patients 
in a different direction from the incident, avoiding a major impact on the 
hospitals in all but two cases.

Page 99 

Initial transport resources included police cars and buses as well as school 
vehicles that were waiting for several visiting kindergarten classes whose 
children were trapped in the south tower. Many of the early-arriving ambulances 
were deadlined in the staging area, as their crews were put to work inside the 
complex. Ultimately, mutual-aid ambulances performed many of the transports to 
hospitals, enabling NYC* EMS members to continue operating at the scene.

HOSPITALS 

Immediately following an assessment of the situation at the WTC, all of the New 
York City 911 system-receiving hospitals were notified by the EMS communications 
center to anticipate incoming casualties. Many activated their external disaster 
plans, holding over their day shift staff, clearing emergency departments and 
operating rooms, and bringing in additional personnel and supplies.

While some victim self-referral to area hospitals was anticipated, the volume of 
walk-in cases from this incident was staggering. The "self-referral phenomenon" 
was particularly evident at New York Downtown Hospital, located several blocks 
from the complex, which ultimately received almost 200 patients over 13 hours -
many of whom were not transported by ambulance.

Several hours into the incident, as the extent of the self-referral phenomenon 
became apparent, NYC* EMS officers and police officers were dispatched to every 
hospital in the city and the surrounding counties to account for and track 
additional victims. Many of these people had left the complex following the 
emergency, made their way home, and began to feel symptomatic as their 
adrenaline wore off. In all, some 411 patients were identified as having arrived 
at hospitals in all five boroughs and the outlying suburbs through alternate 
means.

PATIENT TRACKING 

Experience has shown that the best way to track patients at a disaster scene is 
by name, which enables emergency personnel to definitively ascertain the 
disposition of individuals and to determine which people remain unaccounted for. 
Under normal MCI procedures, this is done at the scene by NYC* EMS.

At this incident, however, the sheer volume of patients precluded the use of 
name tracking, although it was attempted at the beginning. Accurate number 
tracking was done from the scene, and all ambulance

Page 100 

crews were directed to call their patients' names into the communications center 
following their transport to a hospital. 

COMMUNICATIONS 

Communications at the scene were coordinated through the NYC* EMS Field 
Communications Unit. A second field communications unit, provided by Ridgefield 
Park, New Jersey, served as the coordination point for the EMS mutual-aid 
response.

Early communications were hampered by the partial loss of cellular telephone and 
pager service in the area when power was shut down in the WTC complex and 
rooftop antennas were disconnected to allow helicopter operations on the tower 
roofs.

Many 911 calls were received from callers trapped in the towers who had access 
to cellular phones. Communications center operators stayed on the line to calm 
and advise these callers, and their information subsequently was relayed to the 
command post to assist in the search and evacuation processes.

Two types of radio networks were used for on-scene communications. A command 
network between the incident commander and command post and the geographic 
division commanders, functional sector officers, and command staff made it 
possible to coordinate activities at the strategic level.

On a tactical level, individual tactical networks were employed to facilitate 
communications between the division commanders and tactical operations posts, 
geographic sector officers, task force leaders, and division staff. Face-to-face 
communications and runners also were used effectively within the divisions.

The Field Communications Unit maintained contact with the communications center 
and coordinated the information flow by monitoring radio traffic on the incident 
ground networks. Periodic progress reports were compiled there and broadcast 
from the scene.

EMS MUTUAL AID 

Although there was no precedent for mutual aid coming into New York City, mutual 
aid was monumental and contributed heavily to the success of the medical 
operation. Through informal mutual-aid plans, NYC* EMS has participated in 
mutual-aid exercises and has sent resources

Page 101 

to assist neighboring communities but has never had an occasion to require it. 
In addition to the contribution mutual aid resources made to the disaster 
effort, mutual aid at the incident scene ensured uninterrupted 911 coverage to 
the unaffected communities of New York City. On February 26, 1993, the day of 
this disaster, NYC* EMS received 3,015 requests for EMS service unrelated to the 
disaster. The WTC bombing was just one of 3,000 incidents handled that day.

EMS commanders from New Jersey remained at the mutual-aid command post (located 
adjacent to the EMS command post in the command post area) and proved to be 
invaluable in the execution of this effort. When the dust settled and the smoke 
cleared, we determined that the state of New Jersey had committed 52 EMS 
agencies, sending a total of 69 EMS units into Manhattan to assist.

In addition to the mutual aid received from the state of New Jersey, mutual aid 
came from 12 community volunteer ambulance corps from within the city. These 
units, some of whom have formal mutual-aid agreements with NYC* EMS, are not 
routinely part of the 911 system. They provide service within well-defined 
community boundaries -but on February 26, they saw no boundaries.

Mutual aid also was provided by 12 of the city's commercial ambulance providers, 
which sent 49 ambulances. Commercial ambulances in New York City handle private 
EMS contracts and have the market on hospital-to-hospital transfers but do not 
operate within the 911 system.

PLANNING 

Planning and administration tasks were assigned to a planning sector. At the 
command staff level, the planning sector officer reported directly to the EMS 
incident commander. The team consisted of chief officers, line officers, and 
staff personnel. The sector's responsibilities included developing plans for the 
deescalation of the large number of resources present and operating; rest and 
rehabilitation, which included critical incident stress debriefing (CISD) and 
crew rotations; and commencing data collection for the postincident report.

Experience has shown that it is important to thoroughly document the response 
effort. This serves three principal objectives: maintaining a historical 
reference document for critique, research, and legal purposes; providing 
information to law enforcement investigative agencies -in this case local, 
state, and federal; and documenting expenses incurred for the response. Included 
in the postincident report were a detailed breakdown

Page 102 

of the command structure; a compilation of resources, both human and logistical; 
and victim tallies, including their dispositions. 

LOGISTICS 

NYC* EMS maintains six logistical support units (LSUs). These trucks are 
strategically located throughout the city and serve as mobile medical equipment 
caches. All of them were deployed to the scene and supplied the divisions with 
medical hardware and software as requested. Under the control of a captain 
serving as the logistics sector officer, the LSUs were instrumental in ensuring 
adequate supplies, especially portable oxygen tanks, as well as oxygen delivery 
devices and systems.

MEDIA RELATIONS 

The dissemination of public information was done from the command post by a team 
of public information officers (PIOs). Public information was a monumental and 
difficult task because most sound bites were live and because of constant 
changes and updates in information due to the rapidly evolving situation.

In addition to the on-scene release of information, a PIO remained at EMS 
headquarters answering telephones and providing on-air commentary. This was 
significant in providing accurate information to WCBS-TV, the single remaining 
on-air television station in the greater New York area (all other stations with 
transmitters atop the WTC were knocked off the air when the power was lost) and 
is believed to have contributed to lower 911 call volume in the uninvolved 
communities of the city.

EMS EMERGENCY OPERATIONS CENTER 

We learned from past experiences, such as the two recent USAir crashes in New 
York and a major subway disaster, that an interagency emergency operations 
center (EOC) is of tremendous benefit. The EMS EOC served as a focal point where 
agency-specific needs were addressed behind the scenes. The EOC staff functioned 
as a direct medium between the EMS operations and support services bureaus, 
shortening the lines of communication. This was necessary to monitor the 
situation in the other areas of the city; to take action to satisfy incident 
logistical demands; and to handle administrative duties, thereby freeing field 
commanders to focus on medical operations. The EOC, located at EMS headquarters, 
maintained direct communication with the EMS command post and was managed by the 
deputy chief of operations.

Page 103 

REHABILITATION 

The EMS commanders were very conscious of the need to monitor personnel for 
critical incident stress during this incident. Efforts were made to limit any 
individual's exposure to gory or bizarre scenes. A rehabilitation sector was 
established, and transit buses or other facilities were designated at each 
division as locations at which members could rest between assignments. Through 
the assistance of the American Red Cross, Salvation Army, American Express 
Company, and others, refreshments and full hot meals were provided to the 
personnel.

Early on, the NYC* EMS CISD team was activated and responded to the scene. 
Informal sector demobilization assessments were conducted during operations and 
by the officers when sectors were secured. On-site evaluations and assistance 
were provided by peer team members and professional staff.

Within a week following the bombing, the CISD team had conducted formal 
debriefing sessions for officers, municipal EMS providers, hospital-based 
personnel, and the various mutual-aid responders.

LESSONS LEARNED 

The EMS response to this extraordinary incident, the most significant disaster 
in the history of the service, was on a massive scale. The scope and complexity 
of the response presented exceptional challenges to veteran emergency response 
personnel, who responded in kind with exceptional commitment. The successful 
outcome of the response, as well as the limited loss of life, is a testament to 
the extraordinary efforts and effective coordination of all those who responded.

EMS and fire services must plan and prepare for these eventualities. Keep in 
mind that terrorism is not isolated to urban centers. Firefighters and EMS 
providers in rural and suburban areas must be prepared as well. Readiness is the 
key to success. Planning will help to ensure that your fire department and EMS 
system respond in the safest and most efficient manner possible.

Through the use of a well-exercised ICS; written and practiced operational and 
mutual-aid plans; site-specific plans for sensitive locations such as shopping 
malls, sports arenas, and transportation hubs; and plans for massive casualty 
distribution, the impact of a terrorist event on any community and its emergency 
response forces will be significantly reduced.

Page 104 

The terrorist bombing of the World Trade Center has illustrated that we must 
anticipate a worst-case scenario in our communities. We must make all efforts to 
be prepared to respond to these incidents in the most efficient and safest 
manner possible.

Many lessons were learned and reinforced in the aftermath of this incident. They 
have value for large and small communities, as we have seen that terrorism can 
strike anytime, anywhere. This was further exemplified by the recent 
investigation and arrest of members of an alleged terrorist plot to carry out a 
massive day of terror in New York City. Some lessons follow.

1. The need for a medical incident command system cannot be overstated. 


Span of control is critical to maintaining the ability to manage; no manager 
should have anything but a reasonable reporting relationship, with 1: 5 being 
optimal. This arrangement enhances operational efficiency and communications and 
reduces the burden of information and responsibility overload.

2. A command team concept with deputy incident commanders and a well-trained 
command post staff. can assist in executing onerations. as well as in receiving 
information.

3. If you expect your personnel to do something in an emergencv. be sure thev 
are accustomed to doing it routinelv. especiallv in the case of incident 
command.

Therefore, use it at all routine incidents. 

4. Consider implementing a "management liaison" at the command staff level to 
brief and interact with senior management and political leaders.

This will allow the incident commander to focus on operations. 

5. In the World Trade Center incident. both the medical and fire onerations were 
extensive enough to require intense management.

Fire departments that have emergency medical service (EMS) responsibility should 
closely examine their medical disaster management procedures to ensure their 
ability to manage both major elements simultaneously.

Page 105 

6. Clearly delineating duties, especiallv at a major incident, is critical to 
ensuring that all responders know their roles.

7. Consider the need for multiple staging areas to ensure the best access to 
multiple sides of an incident.

Consider the routes vehicles will use to return to the scene. 

8. At major incidents to which numerous vehicles will respond, categorize the 
vehicles by type.

Separating basic life support ambulances, advanced life support ambulances, 
specialty units, and support vehicles will make it easier to deploy them.

9. Major incidents. or those that produce multiple patients over an extended 
period of time. necessitate making decisions regarding transporting truly 
critical patients before the end of the triage process.

These patients may deteriorate rapidly or expire if they are not managed 
aggressively from the outset. These decisions, however, must be balanced against 
the resources available.

10. Triage tags really work -use them regularly. 

11. As we learn more about the ill effects of entrapment and compression on the 
human anatomv. it is clear that crush svndrome must be addressed while rescue 
and disentanglement is underway.

Crush syndrome (trauma to muscle tissue that can cause shock and renal failure) 
can debilitate or kill victims if they are not treated by specially trained 
medical personnel before being removed from their entrapment site. Paramedics 
are well-equipped to deal with the effects of crush syndrome and must be 
included in any urban search and rescue effort.

12. The issue of medical control should be considered and included in the 
mutual-aid plan. Do not leave this area for speculation.

Allow mutual-aid providers to use their own protocols and medical control when 
possible. Disaster medical control protocols are

Page 106 

recommended so that the need for physician contact is eliminated during a 
disaster. 

13. Transport decisions should be made on an incidentwide basis -not bv 
individual divisions.

14. EMS personnel should be trained in landing zone operations and safety Safetv 
is critical when operating around helicopters.

All personnel, especially the landing zone sector officer, must observe hazards.

15. Despite pressure to track every victim. name tracking at the scene may not 
be feasible.

Include a strategy for acquiring victim pedigrees in the disaster plan; consider 
incorporating the use of law enforcement personnel or volunteers.

16. There is no way that fire/ rescue and medical communications could have been 
conducted within a single tactical network.

Traffic overload would have severely interfered with the efficiency and safety 
of operations.

17. Division progress reports to command are vital. 

18. EMT trainees from our Division of Training formed a staircase-relay 
mechanism.

These teams were placed every two to three floors from the lobby to forward 
triage areas and casualty collection points on the upper floors. They were used 
to move equipment up and patients down without exhausting individuals who would 
otherwise have to do multi-floor carries.

19. All portable radios must be able to function on designated tactical 
networks.

20. Dynamic re-deplovment plans are needed to backfill area units drawn into an 
incident.

21. Preplan alternative procedures for situations when your infrastructure 
communications svstems (cell phones and pagers. for example) fail secondarv to 
the incident.

Page 107 

22. Consider the need for additional staff at the communications center. 

23. Develop, mechanisms for disseminating: information to hospitals rapidly and 
continuously.

One approach would be to include radio links monitored by hospital staff for 
broadcast updates (also voice alarm or voice pager system). A computer link in 
medical facilities and telephones with automatic speed dialers with messaging 
and acknowledgment features would aid in this process. Hospital-notification 
problems that must be addressed include the following: calling several hospitals 
at a time, providing informational updates, notifying hospitals when the alert 
is concluded, and controlling patient flow. Hospitals must provide feedback to 
the communications center: "We can handle everything" vs. "We're drowning in 
patients" vs. "You didn't send us enough."

24. Never underestimate the need for mutual aid -even in large cities. 

25. Joint training and exercises in MCI operations and incident command are 
required for mutual-aid responders. 

26. Mutual-aid plans addressing: activation and lines of authoritv must be 
formalized. 

27. Mutual-aid resources left in staging and not used will be frustrated. 

Crews should be debriefed and given an understanding of the incident and their 
essential role of standing by in reserve.

28. Mutual-aid plans not onlv should cover the response to a disaster but also 
should provide for continued emergencv service coverage to unaffected 
communities.

29. Common mutual-aid frequencies would have been beneficial. 30. Plans for 
managing; ongoing routine 911 operations. such as holding over shifts. as well 
as for managing the incident, are needed.

31. Documenting: the response is critical in cases where federal disaster 
declarations are likely.

32. Plans to control and reduce equipment loss and conduct equipment recoverv 
are needed.

Page 108 

33. Advance agreements with vendors to replenish oxygen supplies at the scene or 
to stav open at a local site so that bottles can be refilled as needed could be 
beneficial. 

34. Multilators, devices that deliver oxygen to multiple patients. are great and 
are available commercially.

35. Being self-sufficient through measures such as bringing; Dower and lighting 
to the scene, will allow EMS obiectives to be met without depleting other agencv 
resources.

36. If vou have a reserve ambulance fleet, spare equipment must be available and 
be vehicle-based so extra units can be placed rapidlv into service.

Remember the need for ALS equipment and portable radios.

37. Have "high-rise" logistics kits available for remote treatment areas. 

38. Logistical support units (mobile medical caches) are essential. LSUs stock 
rapidly consumable medical hardware items such as backboards and oxygen, as well 
as software. Four of NYC* EMS LSUs were constructed from retired/ modified 
ambulances, reducing costs significantly.

39. Well-intentioned media personnel may transmit improper instructions, such as 
to break high-rise windows.

At the WTC incident, a public information officer (PlO) at EMS headquarters 
conducted a campaign to decrease the routine call load on the EMS system, 
reducing the call volume during the disaster and making it possible to render 
efficient service to the rest of the city.

40. Crews must be monitored for their use of safety equipment (helmets. coats. 
etc.).

41. Mobile safety officers are an asset and would have been beneficial in each 
division.

42. All issues cannot be addressed on site during a disaster. An emergency 
operations center (EOC), especially if it is well-coordinated with the command 
post, can address many matters,

Page 109 

including unit redeployment and personnel and staffing requirements for the 
disaster, as well as for routine community 911 service, and a host of 
administrative and operational needs as they arise.

43. Consider the possibility terrorist-related hazards. including the presence 
of "kill bombs" designed to draw crowds and rescuers and then to "take them 
out."

Keep in mind that terrorism is not just an urban problem -terrorists can strike 
anywhere.

44. Rest and rehabilitation at the WTC disaster included CISD and rotation of 
crews.

They were essential to preserve the health and well-being of responders -
especially since the crews were physically exerted by climbing to the upper 
reaches of the towers.

45. When planning for rest and rehabilitation, do not forget officers. Remember 
to meet their needs, as well.

Page 110 

Forward Triage on the 34th Floor by Jack J. Murphy, Jr., and Jack J. Delaney 

On the day of the World Trade Center (WTC) incident, several of the early 
morning radio transmissions from the emergency medical service (EMS) dispatcher 
were preceded by sounded alert tones, warning the paramedic units about 
hazardous road conditions.

At 12: 21 hours the alert tone again sounded, but this time, the EMS dispatcher 
transmitted a smoke condition at the WTC. An EMS lieutenant and several 
paramedic units responded. They were advised to give a status report on the NYH-
EMS citywide frequency. The first-arriving paramedic unit transmitted a report 
that this was more than just a smoke condition. This unit immediately became 
involved with a cardiac arrest and transported the patient to the hospital. Once 
the EMS lieutenant arrived, he requested all available resources to respond to 
the incident. This unusual request and the grave inflection in his voice 
prompted the EMS dispatcher to increase the response to the incident.

Shortly thereafter, the New York Hospital/ Cornell Medical Center EMS was 
requested to respond to the WTC EMS staging area. Under the guidance of the 
hospital EMS director, a mobile task force was assembled, consisting of four 
ambulances, two rapid response units, one mobile emergency response vehicle 
(MERV) -a mobile triage unit that stabilizes patients for primary care -15 
paramedics, one emergency room doctor, and the hospital fire safety engineer, 
who was designated the safety officer for the task force. To maintain the 
primary hospital EMS response, all off-duty staff members were ordered to report 
to duty.

The NYH Task Force was deployed onto the FDR Highway southbound. (While en 
route, many ambulances where transporting patients northbound to local 
hospitals. This tactical highway approach was east of the WTC, which enabled the 
NYH Task Force to circumvent the

Jack J. Murphy, Jr., is fire safety engineer at the New York Hospital/ Cornell 
Medical Center in New York, New York, and a deputy chief/ paid fire marshal of 
the Leonia (NJ) Fire Department. He is a vice-president of the New York City 
Fire Safety Directors Association and an advisory board member of the Bergen 
County (NJ) Fire Academy and John Jay College Fire Science Institute. He has 
bachelor's degrees in fire safety administration and industrial technology and a 
master's degree in education. He is an editorial advisory board member of Fire 
Engineering and Industrial Fire Safety.

Jack J. Delaney is the director of emergency medical services at the New York 
Hospital/ Cornell Medical Center in New York, New York, where he oversees the 
response to more than 15,000 requests for prehospital services annually. He is 
responsible for the Medical Center's external disaster preparedness and 
coordination and is actively involved with the National Disaster Medical System. 
Page 111

WTC under the Battery Park tunnel. Thus, the task force advanced into 
the staging area without any vehicle congestion. 

AT THE SCENE 

>From the staging area, EMS command assigned the NYH Task Force to WTC Tower 2. 
The operations chief for Tower 2 directed the task force to set up a forward 
triage on the 34th floor, where the task force encountered a woman in premature 
labor being transported down from the upper tower level. The Tower 2 operations 
chief also directed the MERV unit to relocate in front of Tower 2 (side 1). Many 
patients from Tower 2 were treated in the MERV unit before being transferred to 
an appropriate level of prehospital care.

Prior to ascending the stair tower, the paramedics gathered emergency medical 
equipment, including portable oxygen cylinders, cardiac monitor defibrillator-s, 
advanced and basic life support equipment, a portable pulseoximeter (for 
measuring the oxygen saturation of hemoglobin in a blood sample), and nonmedical 
but necessary equipment such as floodlights, rope, and flashlights. Each task 
force member was assigned several pieces of equipment to transport on their 
backs up to the 34th level, since the tower's electricity and emergency lighting 
were not operational.

Smoke filled the stair tower from the lobby level upward. At intermittent 
levels, emergency personnel provided some light and guidance to WTC occupants 
who were evacuating. Scores of people were making their way down the stairs; 
their emotion increased as they approached the exit. Emergency crews instructed 
the evacuees to stay to the right side of the stair tower; rescue personnel used 
the left side to ascend. The climb to the 34th floor took 40 minutes. On several 
occasions, task force members had to stop to rest.

On arrival at the 34th floor, the NYH Task Force was directed to a corporate 
conference room filled with numerous patients. One patient, in her late 20s and 
in an agitated state, was lying on the floor with her legs

Jack J. Murphy, Jr., is fire safety engineer at the New York Hospital/ Cornell 
Medical Center in New York, New York, and a deputy chief/ paid fire marshal of 
the Leonia (NJ) Fire Department. He is a vice-president of the New York City 
Fire Safety Directors Association and an advisory board member of the Bergen 
County (NJ) Fire Academy and John Jay College Fire Science Institute. He has 
bachelor's degrees in fire safety administration and industrial technology and a 
master's degree in education. He is an editorial advisory board member of Fire 
Engineering: and Industrial Fire Safety.

Jack J. Delaney is the director of emergency medical services at the New York 
Hospital/ Cornell Medical Center in New York, New York, where he oversees the 
response to more than 15,000 requests for prehospital services annually. He is 
responsible for the Medical Center's external disaster preparedness and 
coordination and is actively involved with the National Disaster Medical System. 

Page 112 

flexed. She was alert and oriented and complained of a severe headache. Her 
companion informed the medical team that the patient was seven months pregnant, 
had made routine visits to her physician, and had had no prior complications 
from this pregnancy. Further evaluation revealed that the patient was extremely 
hypertensive. She was diagnosed with preeclampsia and immediately was placed on 
a high concentration of oxygen and started on an I. V. She began to exhibit 
petit ma1 seizures. The seizure activity did not subside, and the patient began 
to exhibit central cyanosis and a palpable systolic blood pressure of 240, which 
prompted the decision to pharmacologically intervene to control the seizures. 
The unavailability of extrication equipment made it necessary to strategically 
secure the patient in a stokes basket (under normal conditions, strapping a 
pregnant patient is not done to avoid possible injury to the mother and unborn 
child) to protect the patient and baby as the rescuers carried her down 34 
floors. Just before her departure, her blood pressure was measured at 190/ 100 
and central cyanosis was abolished. The NYH Task Force transferred the patient 
to another paramedic team, which continued her care throughout the vertical 
evacuation. The patient subsequently was transferred to a New York hospital, 
where she gave birth by a cesarean section. The mother and her premature infant 
were reported to be doing well.

Other patients located in this area exhibited a wide range of medical conditions 
including smoke inhalation, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease 
(COPD), exhaustion, and hysteria. Without delay, the NYH Task Force performed a 
primary survey, triaged patients, and began treatment of the most severely 
afflicted under the medical direction of the team physician.

Several EMS teams were deployed to the upper levels to evaluate nonambulatory 
patients. Patients assessed as having possible cervical spine injuries requiring 
immobilization -but who had no other medical complications and were in no 
immediate danger -were left with rescue workers to be mobilized when additional 
resources became available. Patients requiring immediate medical attention were 
transported to the forward triage station. EMS personnel deployed from the 
forward triage station to a specific location were monitored by the safety 
officer to be reassigned. In addition, the safety officer organized a group of 
rescue personnel to go on scavenger hunts throughout the various floor levels to 
acquire bottled water, cups, first-aid kits, ice, oxygen cylinders, portable-
battery radios, and other needed items.

Page 113 

SECOND TRIAGE CENTER 

Later into the incident (during the latter part of the afternoon), additional 
EMS personnel arrived at the forward triage area. A second triage area for 
ambulatory patients who had minor medical conditions, such as exhaustion, was 
established on the floor. After a brief rest, these people could continue their 
trek down to the lobby. During these operations, reports of another device 
exploding on the 65th floor surfaced. They were disproved after a thorough 
search had been made. This false report may have heightened the anxiety levels 
of our personnel, but it did not deter them from administering the medical care 
that was needed.

Using the area along the exterior wall as the triage center enabled us to use 
the natural daylight as lighting and to preserve our battery power for 
nightfall. Since portable lighting was limited and there was no indication of 
when utility power would be restored, the patient population was consolidated 
and the work area reduced. Ambulatory patients needing no assistance were 
released after a quick rest and some refreshments. Ambulatory patients needing 
assistance were released with other evacuees capable of assisting them. 
Nonambulatory patients or those with medical conditions that could have been 
exacerbated by their self-evacuation were packaged and transported by fire/ 
police personnel and accompanied by EMS personnel.

Hours after the initial blast, the lighting on part of the floor was restored. 
The forward triage function was moved laterally to the lit area. Patients 
presented at this time had no severe medical complications. They were evaluated, 
permitted to rest, given refreshments, and sent on their way. The last group, 
all young children, had walked down from the observation deck on the 110th 
floor. They were in excellent spirits, and the attending physician, a 
pediatrician, interacted with the children and determined that they were fine.

Approaching the end of the initial incident day, the NYH Task Force waited for 
the search and rescue crews to secure the floors above the 34th level and then 
demobilized. They were able to use an elevator to descend to the lobby.

Several hundred people were treated for various ailments during the forward 
triage operation. The behavior exhibited during this incident was uplifting, as 
people reached out to help all in need.

Page 114 

Experiences of the Chief Engineer of the Port Authority by Eugene Fasullo 

On February 26, 1993, at 12: 18 p. m., I was taking the elevator down from my 
office on the 72nd floor of 1 World Trade Center to go to lunch. Somewhere 
between the 61st and 44th floors (in an express elevator shaft), the elevator 
came to a halt. Inside were seven engineers (myself included) and two lawyers.

DIGGING OUR WAY OUT 

After 10 minutes, we smelled smoke. After 20 minutes, smoke began pouring into 
the bottom of our elevator. During this time, we pressed the elevator's 
emergency button. Usually this elicits a response from a live person who says 
help is on the way. This time, however, we got a recorded message over and over 
again that said, "Message received, please be patient." Since we didn't know how 
long it would be before help arrived, we decided to force the elevator doors 
open ourselves.

In 1960 I was involved in the original planning and design of the WTC. From this 
experience I knew that the walls behind the elevator doors were made of two-
inch-thick gypsum board, rather than solid concrete or concrete block, with 
steel studs 12 inches on center. Thus we figured we could dig our way out.

We forced open the elevator doors with our hands and used our car keys to dig. 
When the lights went out, we dug by the little red lights of our beepers. It 
took us two hours to dig through that wall. When we broke through, we were able 
to gulp some fresh air from the hole we had made. Then we came upon a second 
wall approximately 12 inches farther in. As we dug through this wall, we could 
hear tiles falling on the other side of the wall. We figured we were tunneling 
through to a bathroom. After an hour, we dug right through a stall and stepped 
onto the toilet bowl and then down to the floor.

We then proceeded to walk from the 58th floor down the dark and smoky stair 
tower to the bottom, often holding hands for safety. We arrived there between 4: 
00 p. m. and 4: 30 p. m. We all suffered various degrees of smoke inhalation, 
but we all made it out of the building safely.

Eugene Fasullo is director of engineering and chief engineer for the Port 
Authority of NY and NJ. 

Page 115

ASSESSING THE DAMAGE 

Outside was mass confusion. I reported to the command post in the Vista Hotel. 
Our only information at first was that there had been a transformer explosion in 
the basement. A maintenance worker accompanied me down to the crater. This was 
the first time I saw the tremendous devastation. The crater was smoldering, and 
water was pouring in from broken pipes. Then I realized it must have been a bomb 
that caused such massive destruction.

I quickly evaluated the structural condition of the building around the crater. 
On visual inspection, I decided the columns supporting Tower 1 were not damaged 
-there was no cracking in the connections or signs of distortion. The secondary 
steel members were damaged, but they were not critical to structural integrity. 
As for the primary columns supporting the Vista Hotel, the floors that braced 
them were destroyed, and the columns' load-carrying capacity was greatly 
reduced. These were the most critical elements to repair.

There were piles of concrete debris at the bottom of the crater, which were 
keeping the columns from buckling laterally. Therefore, we allowed no debris 
removal to take place until the columns could be reinforced with steel braces.

REPAIR WORK IS BEGUN 

Seven columns were in bad shape. Braces were installed in the following manner: 
Three-by four-foot holes were cut in the floor of the ballroom of the hotel 
around each column to gain access and to lower bracing members (six-inch steel 
tubes 35 feet long). A two-man cage was positioned over the large blast hole for 
lowering workers to weld the braces to the columns. These braces were welded 
horizontally and diagonally to the columns. During the welding, two fire posts 
were set up around the clock to extinguish any small fires caused by the welding 
operation. This project lasted from Sunday through Friday.

Only then did we allow debris removal. A hole was made in the plaza level 
outside between Tower 1 and the Vista Hotel, and a crane stationed on that level 
began removing debris. We estimated there were 2,500 tons of debris. As removal 
took place, bracing was done continuously. In all, 200 the braces were put in. 
Debris removal took about two weeks to complete.

Page 116 

Much debris was on top of the air conditioning equipment. Seven units that 
provided 7,000 tons of air-conditioning needed to be made operational in two 
months, in time for summer. We needed first to get at them and then to fix them. 
Meanwhile, we rented temporary units. This project was completed in mid-May.

Other equipment was damaged by the blast and needed replacing as well. The 
transformers were damaged, as were elevator doors and equipment. Walls in the 
stair towers had been blown down by the explosion. Concrete slabs 100 feet away 
were cracked (these will be demolished and rebuilt by the end of this year).

The fire department played an integral role in reviewing the building systems -
such as the smoke-removal system and the communication system -and helping to 
bring them up to speed so the building could be reoccupied.

More than 3,000 workers were employed around the clock to clean 10 million 
square feet of office space damaged in the blast. Just feeding all the workers 
removing debris, welding, and performing electrical work and other duties around 
the clock was a major logistical task.

Vendors around the country interrupted their production to send us parts and 
equipment. All pulled together to get the job done in record time.

After the buildings were cleaned and their systems tested and functioning, 
tenants were allowed to move back into their office space, some as early as two 
weeks after the incident.

All of our facilities have routine drills to prepare for emergencies, but no one 
-not police, fire department, or Port Authority personnel -had ever encountered 
the effects of a l, 000-plus-lb. bomb put in the basement of a building. The 
effects were awesome and overwhelming.

Page 117 

The World Trade Center Complex by The Port Authority Risk Management Staff 

The World Trade Center (WTC) complex was designed by Minor-u Yamasaki and 
Associates of Troy, Michigan, and Emery Roth and Sons of New York. Site 
excavation began in August 1966, and construction of the towers started two 
years later. The first tenant moved into Tower 1 in December 1970, even though 
construction was not completed. In January 1972, the first tenant moved into 
Tower 2. The official opening of the Vista Hotel in July 1981 marked the 
complex's completion.

The foundations that support the WTC are truly gigantic. They are the "strong 
shoulders" that rest in bedrock 70 feet below ground, and they carry 1.25 
million tons of building. In the area that contains the twin 110- story towers, 
more than a million cubic yards of earth, rock, and subterranean miscellany were 
removed to make way for a basement 980 feet long, 510 feet wide, and 70 feet 
deep to provide for the PATH commuter rail station, mechanical equipment rooms, 
storage for tenants, and parking for 2,000 cars.

Prior to excavation, the entire eight-block area required under-ground walls 
down to and into the bedrock to withstand the external water and earth pressure 
and to prevent the undermining of adjacent buildings and streets. Conventional 
construction methods were considered before selection of the slurry trench 
method.

This technique had been used extensively in building construction in Europe and 
Canada but was new in the United States. The soil surrounding the site resulted 
in the decision to use this new approach.

SLURRY TRENCH METHOD 

First, excavating machinery carved out a three-foot-wide trench, the same width 
of the basement wall to come. As material was removed, it was steadily replaced 
by a slurry mixture of water and bentonite (a fluffy, expansive, gray clay that 
comes largely from Wyoming). The slurry has the consistency of pea soup and was 
constantly churned as the excavation rig deepened the trench. The mixture held 
back the ground water and maintained the sides of the trench without the need 
for shoring. The drilling and removal process continued down into the bedrock.

Page 118 

Next, preassembled seven-story high cages of reinforced steel, weighing 25 tons, 
were lowered into the slurry. This formed the skeleton for the concrete that 
displaced the slurry. Then the concrete was placed at the bottom of the trench 
through a pipe with a big hopper at the top. Engineers call it a tremie, which 
is French for "hopper" or "funnel." As the concrete wall, three feet thick, rose 
to ground level, the slurry was forced out on top. The same slurry then was 
piped to other trench segments. The final result, as the parts were joined, was 
a reinforced concrete underground cutoff wall around the site to be excavated.

The work was done in 22-foot-long segments, 152 in all, which allowed 
accommodation to the varying rates of building removal and utility line 
relocation, since the construction stages were interrelated. One depended on the 
other, just as new telephone vaults had to be provided in West Street (also by 
the slurry trench method) before the basement perimeter wall could be started, 
which in turn was a preliminary to foundation excavation and then the actual 
erection of buildings. In effect and in appearance as the excavation proceeded, 
this became a big bathtub -with water kept on the outside.

During excavation, the PATH railroad operated as usual, even though the old 
tubes under Fulton and Cortlandt streets became completely exposed as a result 
of the work. As digging proceeded, the tubes rested safely in protective cradles 
with deep-rooted underpinning. Later on, new tracks were built into the new and 
bigger PATH terminal west of Greenwich Street.

As the "bathtub" excavation line lowered and sections of the rectangular 3,100-
foot concrete perimeter wall came into view, a system of rock anchors was 
installed. Holes were drilled diagonally downward and outward through the wall, 
through the surrounding earth, and into bedrock. Steel tendons were inserted, 
one end socketed in the rock and the other end anchored to the wall. The purpose 
was to brace the wall against exterior pressure and provide unimpeded working 
space inside the "bathtub."

The excavated material was dumped into the Hudson River to create 23.5 acres of 
new land, extending six blocks along the waterfront from Cortlandt Street to 
below Rector Street and an average of 700 feet into the river. This landfill 
replaced abandoned piers and the old Central Railroad of New Jersey ferry slip 
at Liberty Street. The material was dumped behind a cellular steel cofferdam 
retaining structure. The new real estate became the property of the city of New 
York at no cost to the city, and is Now Battery Park City and the World 
Financial Center.

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Gradually, as excavation proceeded and the "bathtub" area was dug out. The 
footings for the building foundations were carried into bedrock. >From this 
base, six floors below ground level, the buildings began to rise. The basement 
floors braced the perimeter wall, and the rock anchors were no longer necessary.

STRUCTURAL STEEL SYSTEM 

In terms of their structural system, the twin tower buildings depart completely 
from other high-rise buildings. Conventional skyscrapers, since the 19th 
century, have been built with a skeleton of interior supporting columns that 
supports the structure. The buildings are not only physically striking -a pair 
of 209-foot-square towers with almost an acre of space on each of the 110 floors 
-but they are radically different in structural design, as the exterior wall is 
used as the loadbearing wall. The only interior columns are located in the core 
area, which contains the elevators.

The outer wall carries the buildings' vertical loads and provides the entire 
resistance to wind. The wall consists of closely spaced vertical columns (21 
columns 10 feet apart), held together by massive horizontal spandrel beams that 
girdle the towers at every floor. On the inside of the structure, the floor 
sections consist of trusses spanning from the core to the outer wall. The towers 
are literally gigantic square box beams of enormous strength, designed to 
withstand 150-mph winds and sway up to three feet.

ELEVATOR SYSTEM 

Elevator service within the towers was designed to maximize the use of floor 
space; each tower is divided into three zones, and each has its own lobby. Zone 
l's lobby is located on the concourse level, one level below the plaza, and 
permits access from the ground up to 44. Zone 2's sky lobby (the transfer floors 
for other elevators serving upper floors) is 44 and services 44 to 77. Zone 3's 
sky lobby is located on 78 and serves 78 through 110. Express elevators (the 
fastest of their size ever built) are available from the lobby and serve both 
the 44 and 78 sky lobbies; each has a capacity of 55 people. The elevator system 
was designed to limit local runs to one-third of the building. Thus, three local 
elevators operate at different levels within a single shaft. Each tower has a 
total of 99 elevators.

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SUBGRADES/ UTILITIES 

The subgrade area of the WTC functions as the heart of the complex. In addition 
to the public and government parking areas, the subgrades house the 
refrigeration plant, which is three stories high, various types of 
telecommunications equipment; and office/ locker space for the Port Authority 
and contract staff who monitor and maintain the complex's systems.

Electrical power and steam are supplied to the complex by Consolidated Edison of 
New York (Con Ed). Electrical power is distributed to the towers through eight 
feeders. The electrical systems are constructed so that service is not 
interrupted even though power loss may occur at any particular substation. A 
majority of the feeders are located in the ceiling or floors at the B-l and B-2 
subgrade levels. These feeders are surrounded by concrete to their individual 
substation throughout the WTC complex and are connected to the subgrade power 
distribution center. >From the power distribution center, service is provided 
through substations on floors B 1,7,41,75, and 108. In the event of a service 
disruption, the complex has six primary backup generators located on the B-6 
level. These backup generators have the ability to use either domestic water or 
river water for cooling in the event of a water main failure and supply 
interruption. Steam is distributed to all mechanical equipment rooms, located 
throughout the complex.

Natural gas is supplied to the complex but is in limited use, mainly in the 
Vista Hotel's kitchens but also in restaurants located on the concourse of 5 WTC 
and the coffee tasting room at the New York Commodities Exchange in 4 WTC. No 
natural gas is used in the two towers.

Domestic water is fed into the complex at several locations from street level 
into the subgrade. From the subgrade, water is distributed throughout the 
complex and is used for restaurants, hotel rooms, the hotel swimming pool, 
cleaning, fountains, landscape maintenance, the sanitary system, refrigeration 
plant chillers "makeup water," cooling emergency generators, and fire protection 
systems (reserve tanks, standpipes, and sprinklers). Conservation of the 
region's precious water resources was the primary motivator in the design and 
construction of a system that uses Hudson River water for cooling the 
refrigeration plant chillers. This system involves pipes and pumps that 
transport the water from the Hudson under Battery Park City, under West street, 
and into and out of the B-5 refrigeration plant. This system enables the 
refrigeration plant to cool the complex without using potable water.

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Two systems often overlooked are sewage and storm water. Both are gravity 
systems in the WTC complex. All aboveground sewage lines lead into the municipal 
sewage line; however, below-grade lines feed into sewage ejectors, which pump up 
and into the city line. The storm water system leads into a 36-inch storm line, 
which eventually feeds into the return to Hudson River from the B-5 
refrigeration plant.

FIRE SAFETY FEATURES 

The WTC complex has the following fire safety features: Smoke detection. The WTC 
complex is protected by smoke-detection equipment that operates as freestanding 
units or in conjunction with other systems. The smoke-detection equipment, for 
example, has been built into the heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning 
systems, which automatically trigger alarms indicating the presence of smoke. 
The complex has more 3,000 smoke detectors.

Break-glass emergency alarms. An emergency call box system is installed on each 
floor and, when activated, provides immediate two-way voice communications with 
the Fire Command Center, which is staffed 24 hours a day.

Smoke purge systems. A smoke purge system built into the WTC tower's ventilation 
system is activated in the event of fire. The system draws smoke out of tenant 
areas and at the same time pumps 100 percent fresh air into the public 
corridors. This system is designed to assist individuals evacuating an area as 
well as those responding to the scene.

Emergency fire exit stairwell system. Each tower has three independent emergency 
fire exit stairwells. These stairs are designated A, B, and C. Stairwells A and 
C run from 110th floor down to the lobby mezzanine, which provides access to the 
plaza. Stairwell B runs from the 100th floor down to the B-6 level of each 
tower. These stairwells provide three widely separated evacuation alternatives 
in the event of fire and give firefighters safe passage upward to fight fires. 
Each of these fire stairways has a standpipe, walls of fire-resistant 
construction, fire doors, and lighting fed by the emergency generators. Similar 
fire exit stairwells also are installed in the other buildings in the complex.

Standpipe system and pumps. The fire standpipe system in the WTC is an 
arrangement of piping, valves, pumps, tanks, and hose stations. Its function is 
to provide a reliable means of applying water streams on a fire in the shortest 
possible time. The hose stations are situated so that

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any area of a floor can be reached by a stream of water from a hose station in 
that area. 

The source. of water for the fire standpipe system in the WTC is the domestic 
water supply system. The water is transported to all buildings and subgrade 
areas in the WTC by two eight-inch loopmains (loops). Also in the system are 
manually controlled fire pumps and reserve tanks. The function of the reserve 
tanks is to provide water for the hose stations during the initial period of 
firefighting, before the fire pumps can be started.

The WTC has two fire standpipe eight-inch water distribution loops. One loop is 
in the ceiling of the concourse level and the other is in the ceiling of the B-l 
level. The first loop supplies water to the risers in 5 WTC and 4 WTC and their 
sublevels. The other loop serves 1 WTC and 2 WTC, the hotel, the Customs House, 
and the subgrades. The loops are connected at two points on the truck dock of 
the Customs House at the north central portion of the WTC and in the southern 
portion of the WTC.

Vertical risers emanating from the loops carry water up into the towers and the 
other buildings in the WTC and down into the sublevels and subgrades. Risers 
connected to the loop on the concourse level carry water up into 5 WTC and 4 WTC 
and down into their sublevels.

In addition to the piping in the standpipe system, there are seven water storage 
tanks. The storage tanks supply water to the hose stations during the initial 
period of firefighting before the pumps can be started. The pumps are required 
to supply the additional water needed to fight larger fires.

There are 15 fire pumps in the fire protection system in the WTC. Twelve are 
centrifugal pumps and three are jockey pumps. Eight of the centrifugal pumps are 
for the standpipe system (located on floors B 1,7, 41, and 75 in each tower), 
and four are for the sprinklers (located on floors B 1 and 108 in each tower). 
The three jockey pumps are for the sprinkler system -one on the B-l level and 
one in each tower on floor 108 (for pressure maintenance).

Sprinkler system. The design of the sprinkler system in both towers is similar. 
Generally, the direction of water flow in the risers is downward. There are 
three separate risers in each tower, with each riser serving different groups of 
floors.

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The risers are designated A, B, and C. Riser A supplies the uppermost floors, 99 
through 110; riser B supplies floors 32 through 98; and riser C supplies floors 
1 through 31.

The risers pass through the floors in the service closets on each tenanted floor 
and deviate from plumb vertical only as required by changes in building 
construction at various elevations.

Two different capacity holding tanks -10,000 gallon and 5,000 gallon -are used 
in the same sprinkler system. The 10,000-gallon tanks supply the sprinkler 
system exclusively and are located on the 110th floor; the 5,000-gallon tanks 
serve both the sprinkler and fire standpipe systems and are located on the 110th 
and 42nd floors.

The sprinkler tanks supply water to inlets of risers A and B and are 
automatically refilled by the domestic water system via float-control valves. 
The fire standpipe tanks supply water to risers A, B, and C and normally are 
also refilled by the domestic water system. Riser C in 1 WTC is cross-connected 
with riser C in 2 WTC via a four-inch pipe from the Siamese connections. The 
function of the cross connections is to provide FDNY with the capability to 
supply water to the C risers in both towers and control their pressures.

The sprinkler centrifugal pump in each tower on the 108th floor has a dual 
purpose. Its main function is to increase the pressure of the water to the 
sprinklers on the floors closest to the holding tanks (floors 107 to 99) to that 
required for operating the sprinklers. However, the pump also is used to supply 
water to some of the fire hose racks (FHRs) on the 110th floor.

As the downward distance from the holding tanks increases (floors 98 and below), 
the pressure (head) of the water in the risers increases to the point where the 
additional pump pressure is not required.

The rest of the complex -namely, the subgrade levels, 5 WTC, and 4 WTC -is part 
of a second sprinkler system completely separate from the one of the towers. 
This second system consists of a large loopmain with risers going down into the 
subgrades and sublevels and rising up in 5 WTC and 4 WK.

the water pressure in the system at 155 psi. The function of the fire pumps and 
the jockey pump is to maintain

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Of the three sprinkler fire pumps (two centrifugal and one jockey) on the B-l 
level, one centrifugal pump and the jockey pump are located in a pump room under 
1 WTC, the other centrifugal pump is located in a pump room under 2 WTC.

Fire hose and extinguishers. One-and-a-half inch fire hose stations and fire 
extinguishers are located inside the emergency fire exit stairwells. The WTC 
Port Authority Police also have pre-positioned firefighting equipment carts in 
the ski lobbies of the towers. These carts are equipped with three kinds of fire 
extinguishers (water, carbon dioxide, and dry chemical), fire hose and nozzles, 
self-contained breathing apparatus, turnout gear, entry tools, resuscitators, 
and first-aid equipment.

Emergency power supply. The WTC complex is provided with emergency power, when 
needed, by six 1,200-kw emergency generators. The emergency generators are 
located on the B-6 level and are checked on a routine basis to ensure they will 
operate properly when needed. This equipment provides an emergency power supply 
for communications equipment, elevators, emergency lighting in corridors and 
stairwells, and fire pumps.

Elevator recall and firefighter service. An automatic elevator "over-ride" 
system, detector-activated, commands all elevators serving or affected by a fire 
area to immediately return to the ground or their sky lobby. The elevators then 
are operated manually under the direction of the FDNY officer-in-charge.

Public address system. Public address speakers are installed in the corridors to 
provide tenants and visitors with instructions and updated information in the 
event of an emergency. This system is operated from the Operations Control 
Center, which is staffed 24 hours a day.

WTC fire brigade. The Port Authority Police at the WTC have been trained as 
firefighters and respond to any location within the complex to investigate smoke 
detector activations, smoke reports, or reports of actual fires. They work hand-
in-hand with FDNY to investigate reported conditions and take the appropriate 
actions for correction.

Fire safety floor wardens. On each floor of the complex, individuals have 
volunteered to be fire safety floor wardens and are provided with specific 
training to fully understand their responsibilities during fire drills and 
actual fire emergencies. Mandatory fire drills are scheduled biannually. WTC 
fire drills are more detailed than those required by the city of New York.

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FDNY siamese connections. The WTC complex has 24 siamese connections, located at 
street level, for use for FDNY apparatus. Water is taken from the street main, 
enters the fire department apparatus, and then is pumped under high pressure 
into the piping system to supply sprinklers and the standpipe system. Each of 
these Siamese connections serves various portions of the complex and is 
identified.

Flammability standards. The risk management group of the PA's Treasury 
Department assists WTC-based PA staff by providing technical advice on the 
flammability of furnishings prior to tenants moving in or updating work areas. 
In addition to office furniture being evaluated, displays, carpeting, draperies, 
and decorations also must be tested to meet specific PA flammability standards 
prior to installation.

THE BOMBING AND ITS AFTERMATH 

The bombing resulted in the following: 

six fatalities (four PA employees, one hotel employee, one parking lot patron); 
1,042 injuries; 
collapsed subgrade concrete slabs; 
approximately 2,500 tons of debris covering the refrigeration plant; 
severe smoke and soot condition throughout the towers; 
four of seven of the electrical feeders supplying the complex faulting and due 
to safety concerns, the remaining three feeders being secured 1 l/ 4 hours after 
the explosion (one additional feeder was "down" for routine maintenance -there 
were eight total feeders into the complex); 
loss of the PA Police Desk; 
loss of the Operations Control Center, fire alarm system, and elevator two-way 
communications system (from elevator to Operations Control Center); 
loss of automatic smoke-detection capability; 

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loss of automatic sprinkler protection, primarily in subgrade areas;

loss of standpipe system, primarily in subgrade areas;

severed pipes creating a flooding condition of approximately two million gallons 
of water on the B-6 level;

elevators getting stuck between floors, trapping almost 500 passengers;

broken windows on the plaza and lobby levels and in the towers; 

fire stairwell doors/ jambs forced open and damaged; 

the largest FDNY response in history; 

a massive personnel and equipment response from NYPD and NYC* EMS (first mutual-
aid request -first Code Zebra involving 500 or more injuries) -174 ambulances, 
12 volunteer ambulances, 49 commercial ambulances, and 69 units; 

loss and damage to hundreds of government and privately owned vehicles in the 
parking levels; and 

massive temporary relocation of tenants to other sites. 

RECOVERY AND RESTORATION OPERATIONS 

The bombing of the WTC was the worst terrorist attack ever to occur in the 
continental United States. The criminal investigation that began that afternoon 
required personnel from federal, state, and local law enforcement at all levels 
to work together for an extended period. Mobile command posts from these 
agencies were positioned on West Street in front of the Vista Hotel and 1 World 
Trade Center, and their operations were coordinated from this common location. 
The criminal investigation required law enforcement personnel to work in 
conjunction with civilian staff of almost every conceivable discipline. The 
media also were extremely interested in the hour-to-hour progress that was to be 
reported and were provided with frequent updates by PA media relations.

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Concurrent with the criminal investigation were the following almost herculean 
tasks: 

stabilizing the subgrade blast zone; 

pumping out almost two million gallons of water from the B-6 level; 

removing debris; 

coordinating all activities at the site; 

relocating police, operations, and maintenance offices that had occupied 
subgrade office space; 

restoring and recertifying elevator service; 

isolating and restoring the fire protection system in the blast zone; 

cleaning smoke-and soot-damaged areas; 

removing and relocating vehicles that had sustained damage; 

removing and releasing undamaged vehicles from the parking lots; 

providing meals for law enforcement, fire, construction, and other staff working 
at the site; 

reconstructing collapsed and destroyed slab areas; 

determining the repairs needed to the B-5 refrigeration plant; 

designing and implementing an access control system to allow authorized staff to 
gain access to the blast site; and 

dealing with the media and providing escorts to individuals needing access. 

As the rescue operations were ongoing, representatives from all the agencies 
began to assemble in the Vista ballroom. The groups then were repositioned into 
what had been the "big kitchen," located on the main concourse near the PATH 
escalators. Activity within the big kitchen only

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could be described as amazing. Tables were being constructed out of 4 x 8 
plywood sheets and 2 x 4s, new telephone cables were being strung from the 
ceiling, new phones were being installed, chairs were being brought in, ceiling 
lighting was being upgraded, new power lines were being installed, supplies were 
being assembled on the concourse, and communications equipment was being 
installed. This level of activity and teamwork among people who did not know one 
another was never before witnessed during peacetime. The big kitchen became the 
focal point and the nerve center or the recovery and restoration activities. 
Twice a day, briefings were held to assess the progress made and determine the 
steps to be taken next.

PA engineering staff, assisted by consulting engineers (some of whom had been 
involved in the original construction), determined that the columns that were no 
longer braced by horizontal concrete slabs should be braced as soon as possible. 
Immediately, Karl Koch Engineering began welding box beams, six inches square by 
35 feet in length, onto the columns horizontally and diagonally for support. A 
total of 200 beams were used to provide support. The criminal investigation then 
moved into high gear once the additional support was in place. Blast debris was 
removed from the B-5 refrigeration plant area by two routes -through the plaza 
by crane and out on PATH railroad flatcars. At the same time, Turner 
Construction Company was pumping out the almost two million gallons of water 
that had collected in the B-5 and B-6 levels at the same time.

The WTC mechanical staff began evaluating the condition of the refrigeration 
plant on the B-5 level as soon as they could safely gain access. They determined 
that the plant had sustained serious enough damage and recommended that backup 
units be obtained for the summer season. Temporary backup units were installed 
on Liberty and Vesey streets, and structures were built around them to limit 
noise to the surrounding area. These temporary chillers allowed the B-5 plant to 
be repaired and recertified without a reduction in cooling capacity.

A major task that had to be undertaken was restoring the fire protection system. 
Major sections of the below-grade standpipe and sprinkler system were damaged 
and had to be repaired. The damaged and destroyed sections of the standpipe and 
sprinkler systems were isolated by a crew of Ogden mechanical employees who 
worked around the clock. A team of 20 Hatzel & Buehler electricians tested the 
3,000 smoke detectors, working 24 hours a day for one week, to verify that all 
were functioning properly. Under normal conditions, such a detail would have 
taken up to six months to complete. Simultaneously, another team of electricians 
reconnected many hundreds of feet of severed wire that led to the fire alarm 
system. While the towers were closed and fire protection systems

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were being brought back on line, FDNY connected pumpers to Siamese connections 
to allow 4, 5, and 6 World Trade Center and the concourse to be open for 
business the Monday morning following the blast.

The dense smoke from vehicles burning in the subgrade parking lots traveled up 
the towers through the breached elevator shafts. The PA made arrangements with 
M. F. Bank/ The Restoration Company (TRC) to supervise the cleaning of interior 
space damaged by smoke and soot. TRC coordinated the activities of Ogden, Modem, 
Nelson, and Altus contract cleaners. A total of 3,000 workers were used -1,000 
per shift. They accomplished the cleaning tasks in seven days for Tower 2 and 10 
days for Tower 1. Tower 2 reopened March 18 with the return of New York Governor 
Mario Cuomo's office. Tower 1 reopened March 29, when employees of the Brown & 
Wood law firm returned to their offices.

The bombing of the WTC forced people from many diverse back-grounds to work 
together as a team as they never had before. Their resolve and determination to 
get the job done was inspirational to all who have witnessed their work.

POSTBOMBING ENHANCEMENTS 

The bombing at the WTC truly was a "worst-case scenario" in which the primary 
and backup systems were disrupted. The following enhancements subsequently made 
to the WTC have made the complex one of the safest in New York City.

1,600 emergency battery-powered lighting units have been installed in exit 
stairwells, elevator lobbies, and all elevator cabs. 

Secondary backup generators are available in case primary and backup generators 
fail. 

A New Jersey Public Service Electric & Gas utility feeder cable will be routed 
through PATH tunnels to provide an additional backup should New York electrical 
service be interrupted. 

Phosphorescent signs have been installed to guide the way to floor entry doors 
in fire stairwells. 

Phosphorescent tape-paint has been applied to stair threads, handrails, and the 
perimeters of doorways in the fire stairwells. 

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Vertical patrols (personnel responsible for checking obstructions, safety 
hazards, and systems throughout stairwells and corridors) have been created. 

Six satellite communications control stations, staffed by deputy fire safety 
directors, are in operation.

Evacuation chairs to assist mobility-restricted people are available.

New Radiax cable and antenna have been installed so that FDNY can use its radios 
in the towers.

Cellular phones have been issued to each fire floor warden. The phones are to be 
used as a backup should the public address system fail.

Delta Barriers have been installed to prevent unauthorized vehicles from gaining 
access into the subgrades.

An access-control ID card system and a visitor check-in system have been 
implemented.

A battery backup system to the elevator car position indicator will enable 
passengers to see which floor they're on if the elevator gets stuck in an 
express shaft.

The elevator emergency call button will be tied into a battery power supply on 
top of the elevator car; thus, in the event of a power loss, WTC personnel can 
communicate with trapped elevator passengers.

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Fire Prevention and Building Restoration Activities by Dave Corcoran 

After any major fire incident, an assessment of the building and its fire 
protection systems' performance usually is made. The assessment involves a 
review of building and fire codes, looking closely at specific code provisions 
to see how they affected the outcome of the incident. The World Trade Center 
(WTC) bombing incident provides a case study for such activities.

The Port Authority (PA) of New York/ New Jersey, a bistate agency, is not 
required to comply with the building and fire prevention codes of New York City. 
However, a review of fire department records reveals that the department has had 
a long-standing relationship with the PA concerning life and fire safety 
conditions at the WTC. This relationship dates back to the design and 
construction phases of the WTC and includes a joint protocol, signed in 1986, 
for inspection activities.

Despite the fact that the PA is not required to follow local codes, the WTC, on 
February 26, 1993, was in substantial compliance with New York City's Local Laws 
(LL) 5, which went into effect in 1973, and 16, which became effective in 1984, 
which address life and fire safety in high-rise office buildings.

FIRE PROTECTION/ CODE COMPLIANCE 

Immediately following the bombing incident, I was assigned to analyze WTC 
Buildings 1 (Tower l), 2 (Tower 2), 4, and 5. In April, I prepared a point-by-
point analysis of these buildings' compliance with LL 5 and 16. Following are 
synopses of the major findings contained in the report.

Noncompliance Areas 

The major areas in which the WTC was at variance with city requirements (and the 
subsequent corrections) are the following: 

Dave Corcoran is a 29-year veteran of the City of New York (NY) Fire Department 
and has served as a chief since 1977. He is deputy chief and commander of the 
1st Division and served as a fire department liaison to the Port Authority of 
New York/ New Jersey in the World Trade Center restoration process following the 
explosion.

Page 132 

Lack of fire command stations (FCS) in each building. Prior to February 26, 
1993, a centralized FCS for buildings 1, 2, 4, 5; the concourse; and subgrade 
levels was located at the B-l level in the Operations Control Center.

Fire control stations presently are being installed in the lobbies of Buildings 
1, 2, 4, and 5. An FCS, which will cover the concourse and subgrade levels, will 
be installed in the concourse level.

Lack of manual pull stations at each exit in Towers 1 and 2. At the time of the 
bombing, a combination voice/ manual station was located in a corridor only near 
Stairway B.

Six new approved "Class E" fire alarm and communication systems to service 
Towers 1 and 2, Buildings 4 ind 5, and the basement and concourse levels are 
being installed. They will provide for a manual pull station at each exit. All 
systems will have been decentralized and separate control centers located in the 
lobby of each high-rise building, and these stations will be staffed 24 hours a 
day. Although all six systems will have separate detection capabilities, each 
system will be able to provide voice communications and strobe-light activation 
for all of the complex's systems.

Access stairs unenclosed for more than two stories (nonegress convenience 
stairs). Code permits access stairs to be unenclosed for not more than two 
stories. Several locations exceed the two-story limit.

These locations are now protected by closely spaced sprinklers in combination 
with draft stops, per National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 13, 
Installation of Sprinkler Systems.

Areas Where WTC Requirements Exceeded New York City Code Requirements 

WTC requirements exceeded those stipulated in the NYC code [LL 5/ 73, Fire 
Safety Office Buildings (27-4267, Fire Prevention Code)] in the following areas:

Emergency power for exit lights and signs. Existing buildings (prior to LL 16/ 
84) are permitted to use battery storage equipment or emergency power sources. 
However, circuits separate from the general lighting and power circuits taken 
off ahead of the main switch also may be used. The WTC had emergency generators 
as the power source and, since February 26, 1993, has additionally installed 
battery-powered capacity.

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Additional emergency-power capacity. Emergency power to fire and booster pumps, 
at least three elevators at one time, alarm systems, communications systems, and 
emergency lighting were in place prior to the bombing.

However, under the code, existing buildings are not required to provide 
emergency power, except as in No. 1 above. WTC is an "existing" building (prior 
to LL 16/ 84) and need not comply.

Compromised by the Explosion 

The explosion damaged or destroyed several fire safety features within the WTC 
complex, including the following: 

Fire alarm and communications systems. Feeders connecting the Operations Control 
Center at the B-l level with the fire protection systems in Buildings 1, 2, 4, 
and 5 ran through the subgrade levels destroyed by the explosion. As a result, 
the fire alarm signal and communications systems were rendered inoperable.

Standpipe and sprinkler systems. The looped water main supplying the standpipe 
system for Buildings 1, 2, 4, and 5; the concourse; and subgrade levels was 
damaged. However, water from gravity tanks, fire department pumpers, and city 
connections permitted the standpipe system to be used during extinguishment.

The sprinkler piping in the explosion area was damaged, affecting protection in 
the subgrade area. The above-grade piping subsequently was isolated, restoring 
systems to serviceability.

Fire pumps in the subgrade levels. These pumps were damaged. During a survey of 
building systems, the gravity tanks in the towers were found to be empty. A fire 
department pumper was used to refill tanks, thereby providing a source of water 
for systems in the towers.

However, fire pumps supplying buildings 4 and 5 were not restored for 10 days.

Emergency generators. They operated for a short period and then shut down due to 
lack of cooling water, caused by the damage to the piping.

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RESTORATION PROCESS 

The compromising of the fire protection systems in Buildings 1, 2, 4, and 5 made 
it necessary to strictly control all movement of personnel into these areas. The 
fire department, in consultation with PA personnel, established minimum 
requirements for controlling movement into these buildings.

A deputy chief was assigned as an on-scene coordinator between fire department 
and PA personnel. Many issues were resolved without the need to refer them to 
higher levels. When necessary, the coordinator served as a liaison between high-
level fire department commanders and the PA.

Fire Department Command Post 

A fire department command post was established on the WTG concourse level. It 
was staffed 24 hours a day for approximately four weeks. Battalion chiefs 
experienced in high-rise operations and having an intimate knowledge of the WTC 
supervised day-to-day fire department operations. In many cases, they were able 
to resolve day-to-day issues without referral to higher levels. The command post 
provided continuity; a log book recording day-to-day operations was maintained 
there. The following records were maintained: the arrival and departure of 
units; the status of the fire protection systems; and the movement of tenants, 
cleaning personnel, etc. into the towers.

Command post personnel, in consultation with PA personnel and law enforcement 
agencies, established the protocol for controlling fire department personnel. A 
fire department presence was necessary near the explosion area to control the 
many minor fires caused by torch operations. However, movement into the blast 
area had to be controlled and monitored so that the crime scene would not be 
compromised.

Command post personnel monitored housekeeping conditions during restoration 
operations and consulted with the PA concerning fire protection/ prevention 
matters in general, particularly hazardous operations.

Commodities Exchange Center 

Buildings 4 and 5 of the WTC requested permission to open for business on the 
Monday morning following the explosion. Since the fire protection systems 
(standpipe/ sprinkler pumps, fire alarm, and communications systems) in the 
building were down, it was necessary to

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survey them and establish criteria for providing an acceptable level of 
protection. Roving fire guards (certified by the fire department) were stationed 
throughout the buildings, and a reserve pumper to supply the standpipe and 
sprinkler systems had to be dedicated to each building. Both buildings opened on 
Monday morning.

Cleaning Personnel 

Hundreds of cleaning personnel were present on various floors (prior to 
restoration of the fire protection systems). Their movements had to be strictly 
controlled. Records of their locations were maintained in the building lobby and 
at the fire department command post. Personnel moved from floor to floor in one 
group, accompanied by a fire guard. Stairways were monitored by roving fire 
guards, who each were equipped with a PA radio and bullhorn and an emergency 
pack, which included emergency flashlights. Fire guards similarly equipped would 
be alerted to an emergency and they, in turn, would use the bullhorn to summon 
personnel.

HIGH-RISE PROGRAM 

The fire commissioner and his staff, with the assistance of Frank McGarry of the 
New York State Department of State Bureau of Fire Prevention, submitted a 
proposal for federal funding to address the issue of "Fire preparedness in high-
rise fires and emergencies." Among topics included in the proposal are 
establishing effective lines of communication within the incident command 
structure at the fire scene, educating employees working/ living in high-rise 
structures, instructing municipalities nationwide on the appropriate fire 
operations to employ at a high-rise fire, and examining and evaluating the 
impact of such programs on fire safety.

RECOMMENDED ADDITIONS/ ENHANCEMENTS 

At a meeting with NYC Fire Commissioner Carlos Rivera, FDNY fire chiefs, and 
other fire department personnel in the days immediately after the WTC explosion, 
Stanley Brezenoff, executive director of the PA, committed the PA to "implement 
all findings for the improvement of safety systems and procedures made by the 
fire department." The introduction of safety systems was reviewed with the fire 
department. The areas in which the WTC was at variance with city codes also were 
addressed to the satisfaction of the fire department, as previously mentioned.

The fire department reviewed the enhancements proposed by the WTC to provide 
additional redundancy to correct the problems -such as

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the lack of communication and information and the lack of light, especially in 
the stairways -that surfaced at the time of the explosion, causing occupant 
concern. 

In accordance with the training they had received, WTC occupants expected to 
hear instructions via various communication methods during the emergency and to 
see lights indicating the means of egress. Neither was available. They were 
forced to make decisions while functioning in an information vacuum.

The following enhancements for improving fire/ life safety have been made in the 
WTC complex: 

Installation of a city-approved Class E fire alarm/ communications system, 
including the installation of fire command stations for each building (1, 2, 4, 
and 5), the concourse, subgrade levels, and secondary command stations in the 
sky lobbies.

Expansion of the public address system into tenant areas, including replacement 
of the "whoop" signal. The system previously served only corridors and 
stairways.

Magnetic reentry locks that automatically release when power is lost.

An FM wireless communications system that will provide emergency communications 
between fire command stations, lobbies/ sky lobbies, and stairwell reentry 
floors. The system might be extended to each stairway, elevator cars, and other 
critical areas such as fire pump and elevator machine rooms.

At the time of the bombing, all elevators were equipped with phase 1 and 2 
capability. Elevator modernization to include installation of a three-position 
key switch that includes a "hold' position in all elevators is taking place.

Emergency power for smoke purge fans.

An additional power source from New Jersey's Public Service Electric & Gas 
utility via PATH (rail system) facilities through to the Consolidated Edison 
(power supplier for the WTC) distribution system. Excess power provided by the 
emergency power source possibly could be made available to tenants as standby 
power.

Page 137 

Installation of an antenna system (Channel 7-FDNY handheld radios) to improve 
fire department communications. Recent field tests of the system in the entire 
complex proved highly successful.

Installation of phosphorescent signs in elevator cars (indicating the car number 
and intercom button) as well as in exit stairwells to identify reentry points 
and exits from the stairwells.

Accelerated rate of sprinklerization of nonsprinklered floors. Nonsprinklered 
floors in Tower 1 must have asbestos removed before sprinklers are installed. 
There is no asbestos in Tower 2. (At the time of the explosion, 1 WTC had 
sprinklers in 98 percent of the building -including all below-grade areas -and 2 
WTC had sprinklers in close to 90 percent of the building -including all below-
grade areas.)

Note: Floors not fully protected by sprinklers have certain areas (storage 
rooms, janitors' closets, for example) in the core protected by sprinklers. 

As discussed earlier, access stairs (nonegress interior convenience stairs) not 
in compliance with 27-375( i)( 2) of the NYC Building Code were provided with 
enhanced protection is specified in NFPA 13 (installation of l8-inch deep draft 
stops and closely spaced sprinkler heads around stair openings). Immediate 
emphasis was placed on stairs that penetrated three or more floors.

Battery-pack light fixtures in elevators and stairways as a backup to emergency 
light fixtures supplied by emergency generators.

Vertical patrol" personnel to check for safety of stairwells and corridors 
(including fire safety checks).

CODE IMPLICATIONS 

The WTC incident reinforces the fact that many government buildings are not 
required to comply with local codes. This could lead to a lack of 
standardization in building construction and fire protection systems. No 
inference is made that such buildings do not use recognized national standards. 
(WTC sprinklers were installed according to NFPA 13, referenced in the NYC 
Building Code.) Local codes, however, provide a "systems" approach to life and 
fire safety. Agencies free to choose piecemeal from national standards and codes 
might not produce a

Page 138 

'Systems" approach. To address this situation, the city will be submitting 
legislation requiring that local codes be followed.

The city has established a code committee, which includes representatives of the 
applicable city agencies and the private sector, to identify the changes needed, 
especially since existing codes do not consider terrorist acts. The committee 
will research ways to guard against an explosion's incapacitating a building, 
such as having an emergency power source established at a remote location.

The fire safety areas of the applicable codes will be reviewed to explore the 
availability of technological advances that would make buildings safer and the 
need for additional safety systems.

Page 139 

Proposal for Federal Funding to Address Fire Preparedness in High-rise Fires and 
Emergencies 

After the World Trade Center bombing, the City of New York Fire Department, in 
consultation with the New York State Department of State Bureau of Fire 
Prevention, submitted a proposal for federal funding to address fire 
preparedness in high-rise fires and emergencies. The major components of the 
proposal, estimated to cost around $9.75 million, are as follows:

Mobile command post (MCP). The center would provide information that would allow 
the tactical field commander to deploy units effectively and efficiently and to 
keep pace with evolving threats and missions as operational requirements 
dictate.

The MCP consists of the following four major subsystems: computer system, 
external communications, power, and vehicles.

Other communication needs FDNY has secured "talk group" on the citywide 800-MHz 
trunked radio system. It is seeking additional "groups" to permit a dedicated 
tactical channel and administrative common frequency for routine operations. 
Existing VHF frequencies would be allocated for fireground use.

High-rise fire safety course for building employees. The objective of this 
proposal is to have 30 FDNY lieutenants trained in the provisions of local Laws 
5, 16, and 58, which cover the required fire safety features in high-rise 
buildings and the basics of fire safety pertaining to these buildings, so they 
can instruct building employees in fire safety and ultimately evaluate building 
employees' abilities to perform effectively in emergencies on an ongoing basis.

High-rise fire command and management course. Chief officers across the nation 
would be prepared to effectively organize, manage, and control high-rise fires 
using a combination of classroom lectures, on-site observations, and interactive 
simulations. Instruction areas would include how to implement an incident 
command system and how to most effectively use a building's fire defense, fire 
suppression, communications and command, and transportation systems.

Page 140 

The WTC and National Codes by Glenn P. Corbett 

In all likelihood, national code-writing bodies will examine the WTC bombing 
incident very closely. The review of revelations arising from the WTC incident 
need to be addressed as new code provisions, as well as verification of 
inadequacy/ inappropriateness of existing code text, will be a necessary charge 
of a national code-analysis committee.

Redundancy of fire protection systems. The need for a multilayer approach to 
fire protection is quite evident. "Backup" features are important, since we 
don't get a second shot. For example, normal lighting fixtures are backed up by 
emergency lighting fixtures powered by emergency generators, which, in turn, are 
backed up by battery-pack light fixtures. Cost concerns pale when the effects of 
the absence of such redundancy become strikingly apparent during an incident.

As a related issue, a proper mix of "passive" and "active" fire protection 
features are called for. A building with totally automated fire protection 
equipment places great reliability requirements on the equipment.

Fire safety and security. Fire safety and security issues are becoming 
increasingly intertwined. In some cases, fire safety and security concerns are 
not in agreement. Model building code organizations must tackle this "hot 
potato" -it won't go way.

Defend in place strategy. The high-rise "defend-in-place" strategy canonized in 
fire protection texts failed during the WTC incident when building occupants 
began to self evacuate. Human behavior characteristics must find their way into 
the model codes. People do not always react as we would like them to.

Stairwell design and use. Numerous issues concerning stairwell design and use at 
the WTC must be addressed. Stairwell widths were inadequate at certain points 
due to occupant overload caused by multiple-floor evacuations. Do the model 
building code stairwell requirements anticipate large portions of buildings or 
entire buildings being

Glenn P. Corbett is technical editor of Fire Engineering and technical director 
of Industrial Fire Safetv. The former administrator of engineering services for 
the San Antonio (TX) Fire Department, he has a bachelor's degree in fire science 
from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City and a master's degree 
in fire protection engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 
Worcester, Massachusetts. His fire service background includes seven years as a 
volunteer firefighter in northern New Jersey. 

Page 141

evacuated? Do the stairwell provisions take into account the types of people 
using the stairs and their differing rates of descent?

Continuity of stairwell egress paths is important -the stairwells should provide 
a continuous path directly to the outside. Model building codes allow for 
discharge of 50 percent of exit stairwells into a fully sprinkler-protected 
office building lobby. How about when the lobby is heavily charged with smoke, 
as in the case of the WTC?

Terrorist design issues. Building codes should consider acts of terrorism in the 
design of "significant" buildings. Such design requirements could include 
glazing specifications, separation of critical building equipment (emergency 
generators and wiring for public address and alarm systems, for example), 
building access, and other features affecting safety and operations. Some 
terrorism issues directly involve/ affect fire protection features.

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Evacuating People with Disabilities by Edwina Juillet 

In the confusion and alarm of a terrorist bombing, how does a deaf person 
interpret emergency instructions? How does a 250-lb. man with quadriplegia whose 
wheelchair weighs 100 pounds get down the stairs? How do people with such 
medical conditions as asthma., heart problems, and a history of blackouts cope 
with the enormous stress of an emergency evacuation through a smoke-filled 
environment?

Representatives of the National Task Force on Life Safety and Persons with 
Disabilities and the City of New York Fire Department, with the resource 
assistance of the Port Authority of NY and NJ, interviewed 27 people with 
disabilities who were evacuated from the World Trade Center complex after the 
bombing, as part of a postincident evaluation. Of those interviewed, 14 had 
mobility impairments, three had impairments of sight or hearing, three were 
pregnant, two had cardiovascular problems, and seven had respiratory problems. 

EVACUATION TIME 

On average, the 27 interviewees with disabilities took 3.34 hours to complete 
evacuation. Evacuation times ranged from under one hour to more than nine hours. 
A person on the 19th floor, who has left hemiplegia and wears a leg brace and 
uses a cane, reported an evacuation time of under one hour. When interviewed, he 
explained that he made it down to the 5th floor via stairs and then began to 
experience leg cramps and dizziness. He was carried down the rest of the way.

Five people reported evacuation times of between 40 and 90 minutes. A deaf 
person on the 71st floor reported he first was alerted to the emergency when his 
computer lost power. He did not hear or feel the explosion but observed 
coworkers' reactions. He learned from a deaf coworker that there was smoke and 
evacuated via stairs.

Edwina Juillet is founder of the National Task Force on Life Safety and People 
with Disabilities. She was appointed to the National Fire Protection Association 
Committee on Safety to Life in 1979 and is a member of the Advisory Panel for 
the NFPA's "Learn Not to Bum" program. Juillet is president of the Woodrow 
Wilson Rehabilitation Center Foundation in Fisherville, Virginia, and the risk 
manager at Martha Jefferson Hospital in Charlottesville, Virginia. This article 
was written in collaboration with Bill Scott, founder and president of Abilities 
Unlimited, Inc., a. disabilities issues consulting firm, and Marianne Cashatt, a 
longtime disabilities awareness and public relations consultant. 

Page 143

A man in a wheelchair with a bilateral above-the-knee amputation reported the 
longest evacuation time: more than nine hours to get down from the 70th floor. 
He reported that he chose not to evacuate -based on his concern over the issue 
of liability and his coworkers' lack of experience -but rather to wait for 
emergency personnel. His manager and a few coworkers remained with him. As the 
smoke grew denser, they retreated farther back into the offices. They waited one 
hour and tried calling Port Authority police, but the lines were busy. At 4: 30 
p. m., a scout patrol arrived and called for help on a hand-held radio. The 
first police officer arrived two hours later. At approximately 8: 30 p. m., 
police and emergency personnel arrived and carried him down to the 43rd floor 
staging area. They rested there and then carried him the of the way. An 
emergency responder carried the wheelchair down separately so once at the bottom 
the man could, in his own words, "resume his mobility."

Four interviewees reported evacuation times ranging from five to nine hours. One 
man on the 69th floor, a wheelchair user with quadriplegia, estimated his 
evacuation time at a little more than six hours. He reported his experience: 
"Everyone evacuated except my manager and the fire warden. We went to an 
executive office where there was no smoke and waited for about 45 minutes. Then 
we went into the stairway, where I commandeered three men coming down the stairs 
who carried me and my wheelchair [combined weight, 350 pounds] to the 48th or 
49th floor. The smoke got worse and the heat increased as we descended, and then 
the lights went out permanently. The stair landings were very narrow and seemed 
to switch from one stairwell to another. We got down to the 43rd floor, and I 
was transferred to a stretcher and carried the rest of the way out. It took 
approximately 15 people taking turns to carry me down. It was a very slow 
process. But I heard no one complain about the delay due to my evacuation."

LESSONS LEARNED 

1. Breathing difficulties. Neither the emergency personnel nor the people with 
respiratory difficulties considered what emergency procedures should be in place 
to deal with problems of pulmonary function disorders. Seven people interviewed 
described respiratory difficulties, explaining that the onset of symptoms can be 
triggered by stress, exercise, dust and smoke, or any combination.

One person reported the following experience: "I have severe asthma. I was very 
fearful about going down stairs into smoke. My asthma

Page 144 

was aggravated by respiratory conditions, not stress. I shared my medication 
with other asthmatics. I was not sure that I would be able to survive the 
ordeal. The emergency medical division did not have any of the medications I 
needed; asthma was not treated as a life-threatening disability."

One interviewee said: "I have severe asthma and chronic bronchitis. I left my 
medication in the office. I got nervous and upset as my asthma worsened while 
descending through the smoke-filled stairway. I was directed to the 43rd floor, 
where other people with disabilities were located. I also exited the stair at a 
floor where the air was better; the windows had been broken. Someone shared an 
inhalator with me."

Another person related the following: "I have difficulty breathing due to 
pneumonia I had in 1991. I cannot walk fast and did not request any assistance. 
I encountered heavy smoke in the 50-plus stairways. I was instructed to take a 
wet cloth and cover my nose. On the 13th floor, I felt air and saw light. I may 
have been better off staying in my original location."

The American College of Chest Physicians and the American Association of 
Respiratory Care can assist in developing emergency medical procedures for 
people with breathing disorders for inclusion in the emergency management plan.

2. Confusion on the stairs. Lack of familiarity with the stairs caused a number 
of problems. One person noted that she stumbled at the stair landings in the 
darkness, in part because the handrails did not continue the full length of the 
stair flight. Other complaints involved not being aware of the following: the 
existence of interior convenience stairs; no reentry from the stairway for 
security reasons (the locked doors frightened many people); and "crossover" or 
extended landings, which, given the poor-visibility conditions, made people fear 
they might be trapped (some crossovers extended 50 feet and required going 
through a door).

One person reportedly counted out loud the number of steps as people were using 
them to evacuate. This let visually impaired people know what to expect and was 
said to have a calming effect on them. This is also how it was discovered that 
the flights of stairs had inconsistent numbers of steps, adding to the confusion 
of some with disabilities. (We later went into one of the stair towers to see 
what was being described. At our point of entry, there was a flight with 11 
steps followed by flights with

Page 145 

six, eight, seven, nine, and five steps; followed by a crossover measuring 
approximately 20 feet separated from the next flight by a door; followed by 
flights of six steps, 13 steps, and so on.)

Some people kept one hand on the handrail for guidance and support and the other 
hand on the shoulder of the person in front of them for support and to avoid 
stepping on that person's heels.

3. Poor visibilitv. When the lights went out, one deaf person could not receive 
instructions during the stair evacuation. In the dark, he was unable to lip-read 
or use sign language. He reported that if he had had a small flashlight he could 
have illuminated a speaking person's face and lips, enabling him to "see" what 
the person was saying. He also has begun teaching sign language to his coworkers 
and has suggested emergency personnel recognize basic signing.

Overall, coping behavior seemed quite remarkable in the face of having to 
evacuate down flights of stairs that no one had seen before and at times in 
total darkness and in the presence of smoke.

4. Wait for help to arrive. In hindsight, many people interviewed admitted that 
if they had had some reassurance from qualified individuals (police, 
firefighters, WTC security) that help was on the way, they would not have 
evacuated within minutes of the blast but would have waited for emergency 
personnel to assist in their evacuation. However, in the absence of 
communications by authorities, they gladly accepted assistance -from colleagues 
and even from complete strangers -in evacuating. These caring groups of people 
who assisted the disabled protected their "charges" until they were safely 
evacuated and moved away from the building.

5. Not part of emergency plan. Prior to the incident, some of the people 
interviewed said that in the interest of privacy or because they felt they did 
not need special assistance, they had opted not to identify themselves to be 
among those listed as disabled in the emergency management plan.

Page 146 

6. Phoning home. Some of the interviewees were able to call home and give news 
of their safety. This alleviated the anxiety of friends and relatives to well as 
of the evacuees themselves. It also may have reduced the traffic of incoming 
calls and may even have prevented some distraught families from going to the WTC 
in person.

Page 147 

Vulnerability of Buildings to Blast Damage and Blast-Induced Fire Damage by 
Ronald J. Massa 


The popular conception of an explosion, as depicted in TV action movies, 
generally is more dramatic than accurate. The big fireball, resulting fire, and 
apparent chaos at the blast scene do not accurately characterize the high-
explosive detonations of materials such as TNT or C-4.

First, building fires usually are not a dominant effect of high-explosive 
detonations. If the detonation occurs outdoors, in a well-ventilated area, the 
hot gases from the initial detonation rarely ignite anything, although they can 
cause charring of nearby materials. If an explosive is detonated outside but in 
a car (i. e., a car bomb), the result will depend on the size of the explosive. 
The expanding hot gases from smaller (lower charge weight) explosive detonations 
will ignite flammable materials in the car, such as upholstery, fuel, and tires. 
The smaller explosive charges will do less mechanical damage to the car and 
often will result in a concentrated fire within the confines of the vehicle. As 
the charge becomes larger, more mechanical damage will be done to the car, and 
fire effects will be less concentrated. For example, expanding gas pressure will 
propel the engine and transaxle apart from the rear axle and wheels, and 
relatively small fires will appear as a number of the car's components come to 
rest at (perhaps) widely separated locations.

Unless the detonation is specifically designed to be incendiary, only locally 
available combustible materials will be ignited. The particular difficulty with 
explosion-induced fires is that ignition can occur at almost the same time at 
widely separated locations because the hot gas cloud expands and propels ignited 
or ignitable objects away from the center of the blast.

Building fires generally are not an issue when explosive detonations occur 
outside of buildings. And except in cases where detonations are incendiary in 
nature, building fires generally are not a major issue when detonations occur 
inside of buildings. Interior explosion-induced fires

Ronald J. Massa has been president and technical director of security technology 
development activities for Lorron Corporation since 1984. For the past eight 
years, he has been invoked in blast postincident analysis, blast modeling field 
test programs, and bomb defense. He holds several electronic security systems 
patents, has published extensively on security topics, and has designed and 
planned a major blast test program for security glazing. Massa, who has several 
engineering degrees from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, previously 
served as president and CEO of

Dynatrend, an engineering consulting firm he founded in 1971. 

Page 148

generally are caused when something within the building is ignited by the 
explosion. The problem is like the ignition of gas lines in an earthquake -the 
earthquake's mechanical effects themselves do not directly cause fires.

When the detonation occurs inside a building and in a confined and fuel-rich 
space, such as in a parking garage, the hot gases from the detonation cannot 
expand freely to mix with an ever-increasing volume of cooler air. The shock 
effects and mechanical damage from the explosion will overturn vehicles, 
fracture gas tanks, break pipes, and breach walls, exposing a variety of 
materials to the hot gas cloud. Many of these will ignite, generally on the 
periphery of the affected space, where the expanding gas causes the least local 
oxygen deprivation. ' Thus, suddenly the detonation will spawn many separate 
fires. From that point on, the building will respond as it would had each of the 
fires been set with a match. However, if the building were severely damaged by 
the blast, life safety systems may be incapacitated, gas lines severed, and 
electrical systems disturbed, all of which will increase the fire vulnerability 
of the building.

All things considered, while severe explosion-induced fires are unlikely from 
exterior detonations, interior detonations, particularly those in confined, 
fuel-rich spaces, frequently result in fires that are exacerbated by damaged 
building systems. Whether inside or outside, blast effects such as shock waves, 
expanding gas, and heat frequently dissipate within a second. 2 Discreet fires 
ignited in this interval generally will require a much longer period (typically 
several minutes) to become serious building fires.

Unfortunately, there are other adverse factors to consider. Ignition at many 
locations simultaneously and damaged life safety systems already have been 
mentioned. But the blast also may blow out windows, providing undesirable 
venting to the fire. If the detonation is a "dirty" one, using a low explosive 
or smoke-producing components, toxic smoke can be rapidly propelled throughout 
the structure, creating an instant, additional hazard to

1 Local oxygen deprivation caused by high-explosive detonation actually is a 
method commonly used to extinguish oil well fires and other fires that cannot be 
effectively extinguished with water and chemical suppressants.

2 Shock waves travel typically at several times the speed of sound (about 1,100 
feet/ second). Thus, an unconfined shock wave is about 1,000 feet from the 
detonation point in a second. The expanding gas moves more slowly, at about the 
speed of sound, but both its temperature and pressure drop with the volume of 
ambient air into which it expands. A 10: 1 volume increase decreases the maximum 
gas pressure by about 10: 1 as well.

Page 149 

building occupants at locations where they are safe from the direct effects of 
the blast. 

PRECAUTIONS AND PREPLANNING 

All of these issues make it desirable to assess the expected performance, in 
response to both blasts and blast induced fires, of major habitable structures 
before such incidents actually occur. The tools to sort out the apparent chaos 
of a blast scene and determine specific damage to buildings arising from 
credible -but hypothetical -attacks exist. BombCAD, for example, is a computer 
software that permits the user to model a building or complex of buildings and 
then expose the computer model to a specific interior or exterior detonation. 
BombCAD makes detailed predictions of blast damage and human injury.

These estimates can be graphically presented on a window-by-window, wall-by-
wall, space-by-space basis. Special computation routines concentrate on specific 
damage aspects, such as glass damage from exterior bombs, the dominant source of 
damage, and injury from terrorist bombs. Analyses made with BombCAD will define 
the precise circumstances (explosive type, weight, and location) that result in 
no damage, specific glass damage, specific surface damage (wall, floor, or 
roof), or potential structural collapse from a particular bomb detonation.

Generally, building structure types can be classified in terms of vulnerability 
to a bomb blast. These types, from most vulnerable to least vulnerable, are the 
following:

wood-frame, 
ordinary construction, 
reinforced concrete, and 
steel frame. 

BombCAD's gas expansion routines also predict smoke transport potential for 
blast products as well as initial conditions for stack-effect calculations and 
other conventional fire and smoke transport modeling tools. Ultimately, BombCAD 
will incorporate fire-related analysis routines. The resulting resource, 
FireCAD, will permit both explosive and fire effects to be modeled separately 
and collectively (when they arise from the same source).

Today, the hopeless chaos routinely depicted on TV at blast sites is only a 
characteristic of the rubble. The ability to analyze and minimize the 
consequences of such events is neither hopeless nor chaotic.

Page 150 

Protecting Buildings Against Terrorism by Eve Hinman and Matthys P. Levy 

Although the probability of a terrorist attack is low, the cost of such an 
attack can be extremely high, as the incident at the World Trade Center (WTC) 
shows. In that case, the tally included lost rent for an extended period, 
relocation costs for tenants, costs of emergency around-the-clock structural 
repairs and debris removal, contending with numerous federal agencies, insurance 
claims, and lawsuits.

For management of commercial and public buildings/ institutions, the risk-
benefit analysis of terrorist attacks can pose a dilemma: What level of 
protection is appropriate for an event that is highly unlikely yet undeniably 
devastating? For these buildings, easy entry and egress, free circulation of 
pedestrians and vehicles, and an attractive and open environment are important 
for doing business. Security measures seem antithetical to these requirements 
and bring to mind a bunker or prison without windows surrounded by guards and 
walls. However, it is possible to work effective and economical security into 
the design of a modern-day commercial building in a manner that can minimize its 
intrusiveness. Although it is easier to implement a security system during the 
design stage of a new building, much can be done to renovate existing buildings 
to provide increased protection.

Security measures may reduce the chance that attack will occur simply by making 
a building an unappealing target. And they provide the added benefits of 
increasing the feelings of confidence and morale of those working there.

On the other hand, security measures that are too intrusive could decrease 
employee morale and business by making access to the building difficult. They 
also could cause a potential terrorist to escalate the level of attack to match 
the level of protection provided. The challenge, of course,

Eve Hinman has 10 years of experience designing structures to resist the effects 
of nuclear, conventional, and terrorist explosions and currently chairs a 
subcommittee of the American Concrete Institute devoted to this subject. She has 
bachelor's and master's degrees in civil engineering and currently is a doctoral 
candidate at Columbia University.

Matthyns P. Levy is a principal with Weidlinger Associates Consulting Engineers 
in New York. He received his bachelor's and master's degrees in civil 
engineering from City College of New York and Columbia University, respectively, 
and has done postgraduate work in applied mechanics. His projects include the 
SO-story office

building at One Liberty Plaza in New York, the Southern Bell Headquarters in 
Atlanta, the New York Convention Center, and the Georgia Dome. He is coauthor of 
Why Buildings Fall Down and Structural Design in Architecture. 

Page 151

is to provide an effective design that does not interfere with the fundamental 
functions of the building or attract too much attention.

Providing protection against a particularly devastating threat, such as a car-
bomb attack, inherently provides protection against a wide range of other, 
lesser threats as well. However there always will be some threats against which 
we will be unable to protect ourselves, such as that posed by a nuclear weapon. 
Also, depending on the current fashion among terrorists, such threats may change 
during the life of the building.

DEFINING THE THREAT 

The first step in developing a balanced security design is to clearly define the 
target and the threat scenario. Depending on the building, the threat of most 
concern could be a car bomb in an underground parking garage, such as was the 
case at the WTC, a letter bomb in the mail room; or a briefcase bomb in the 
lobby or corridor. Typically, places that are easily accessible to the public 
are the most vulnerable. On the other hand, depending on a building's function, 
the target could be the control center where the communication and emergency 
power lines of a facility converge. Clearly, these vital functions should not be 
placed within easy access of the public and should be in a protected 
environment.

When assessing the vulnerability of a building to terrorist attack, look for the 
weakest link in the building's design, such as lack of controlled access or 
underground parking. What is the most accessible place where a terrorist could 
cause the greatest devastation? The lobby? The elevators? The toilets? Although 
a building cannot be made completely terrorist proof or bombproof, there are 
ways to make it more difficult to execute certain types of attacks. By reducing 
the chances of the most devastating types of attack, such as a car-bomb attack, 
the threat can be reduced to a manageable level. For instance, prohibiting vans 
from parking in underground parking garages will limit the size of a potential 
explosion to that caused by the amount of explosives that can fit in a smaller 
vehicle. Weighing vehicles can further control the possible size of the weapon. 
The use of dogs to screen packages at airports is another example of how the 
size of potential explosions can be limited.

DESIGN OBJECTIVES 

Once the threat is defined, you must establish your design objectives. Is your 
primary objective to protect people, functions, or the contents within the 
building? Typically, a combination must be considered. In a building such as the 
WTC, for instance, where thousands of people

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work and thousands more come and go during the course of the day, the primary 
objectives may be to save lives, reduce injuries, and facilitate to evacuation 
and rescue. A secondary objective might be to regain function of the building as 
soon as possible after an attack, and a tertiary objective might be to reduce 
the damage to equipment and contents within the building. For another facility, 
such as a communications or power facility, where employees are few but the loss 
of function could affect millions, the primary objective may be to regain the 
function of the facility as soon as possible or at least to be able to shut down 
safely after an attack. For a storage facility, clearly the primary focus is to 
protect its contents.

One of the most effective ways of providing a balanced security design is to 
provide several layers of protection between the attacker and the target. This 
"onion-skin" approach has several advantages. It deters an attacker by making 
the building a less appealing target. It physically distances the attacker from 
the target. It provides redundancy, so that if one line of defense fails, others 
are still in place. It provides delay time, enabling the mobilization of 
security forces to stop the attack before it occurs or mitigate its effects by 
causing it to occur under less than ideal conditions for the attacker.

If all else fails and an attack occurs despite all precautions, the last line of 
defense is walls, floors, and a framing system designed to resist the effects of 
a certain level of explosives. A blast-resistant building still will require 
structural repairs after an attack, but the damaged area will be more localized 
than if no structural protection had been provided. If structural damage is 
limited, the volume of debris will be reduced, facilitating the rescue of 
persons trapped underneath the collapsed portions of the structure and 
expediting repairs.

OPERATIONAL AND PHYSICAL COUNTERMEASURES 

Two types of countermeasures can be employed to contain an attack -operational 
and physical. Operational countermeasures are those that require human 
intervention. Physical countermeasures are architectural or structural devices 
built into the facility; they do not require human intervention to operate. An 
integral security design uses both types of countermeasures to provide 
protection to the building, requiring the integrated effort of several types of 
specialists -security specialists, planners, architects, and engineers.

One example of an operational countermeasure is stationing guards at a 
building's access points to inspect packages and vehicles. Other examples 
include electronic devices such as closed-circuit surveillance TVs,

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intrusion-detection devices, metal detectors, and automated barricades, all of 
which need monitoring. 


Physical countermeasures include strengthening the structural components 
discussed previously, but they also include providing architectural devices that 
help facilitate operational countermeasures and useful obstacles to keep a 
potential terrorist from easily accessing the intended target. Such obstacles 
include guard booths, inspection stations, perimeter fences or walls, bollards 
and planters on the sidewalk, and fountains or staircases at critical entry 
points -all of which work to keep vehicles from getting close to a building. 
Other physical countermeasures include providing off-site parking or arranging 
for the vital internal functions of the building to be placed away from easily 
accessible areas.

Because many injuries during car-bomb attacks are caused by broken glass from 
windows, it is worthwhile to give some attention to a building's window design. 
Smaller and fewer windows will reduce this risk; however, this approach is often 
unwelcome for commercial buildings. Another alternative is to use tempered glass 
or glass-clad polycarbonate windows, which are less apt to fail; when they do 
fail, it is in a less lethal manner. Windows specifically designed to resist the 
effects of an explosion are another alternative.

Buildings are "forever," but memories of disasters are short-lived. Stories of 
the World Trade Center blast were front-page news around the world, only to be 
displaced within a week by the standoff in Texas between federal agents and 
David Koresh's Branch Davidians. The initial shock in the wake of an explosion 
caused by a few radicals is quickly forgotten. The Uffizi Gallery in Florence 
reopened a month after being gravely damaged by a car-bomb explosion; the St. 
Paul's area of London was wiped clean of broken glass after an IRA bomb 
shattered windows across several square blocks; and the World Trade Center and 
Vista Hotel are now fully functioning, while undergoing continuing repairs and 
renovations. However, the underground parking garage is closed to transient 
visitors and may forever remain closed unless foolproof security measures can be 
devised to prevent the reoccurrence of last winter's disaster. Unfortunately, 
with the passage of time there comes a return to openness and trust, a quality 
inherent to the human spirit. However, security and protection can be 
incorporated into buildings to act as a passive, nonintrusive shield to random 
terrorism.

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Appendix A Photographs 

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Damaged elevator doors and enclosures on the B-2 level presented a vertical 
channel for smoke spread into Tower 1. (Photo courtesy of Port Authority Risk 
Management.)

The scene on West Street within the first hour of the incident. The Vista Hotel 
is to the far right, and Tower 1 is next to it. The parking garage entrance is 
visible. Note also the tower ladder raised to the plaza level to remove 
occupants trapped at that level. (Photo by FDNY Photo Unit.)

A view of the parking garage entrance on West Street, through which first fire 
companies launched the initial tire attack. (Photo by Arthur Knobloch.)

Firefighters remove a victim of smoke inhalation from the plaza mezzanine level. 
Two of the three stairways in each tower ended on that level, but with a heavy 
smoke condition occupants had difficulty finding the exits to the exterior 
plaza. Forcible entry was required on at least one of these plaza doors in Tower 
1. (Photo by Robert Knobloch.)

Above, Chief Anthony Fusco at the command post. Below, he confers with chief 
officers. Control of any large incident is beyond the capabilities of one 
person-a flexible and adaptable incident command system is essential. (Photos by 
FDNY Photo Unit.)

A view of the crater from the B-l to B-5 levels. Note the steel column. 
Horizontal supports were destroyed in some cases, but the columns did not give. 
(Photo courtesy of Port Authority Risk Management.)

The crater, looking from the B-2 level down to B-5, taken during the 
investigation/ restoration phase. (Photo courtesy of Port Authority Risk 
Management.)

Firefighter Shea's fall was a long one-some 40 feet. The smoke condition in the 
crater was such that visible contact with Shea was impossible. (Photo by FDNY 
Photo Unit.)

Building systems in the vicinity of the blast were destroyed. Here, twisted 
electrical conduit has landed on top of what was once a car. (Photo by FDNY 
Photo Unit.)

The sloping, hanging steel-reinforced concrete floor at the perimeter of the 
crater was a major hazard for units operating on the crater fire, particularly 
in the heavy smoke condition. (Photo by FDNY Photo Unit.)

This destroyed office area on the B-2 level is typical of the debris piles faced 
by searching firefighters. (Photo courtesy of Port Authority Risk Management.) 

167 The explosion collapsed a portion of ceiling on the B-5 level onto a PATH 
train concourse. (Photos courtesy of Port Authority Risk Management.)

The Port Authority Command/ Communications Center on the B-l level, 
approximately 50 feet from the blast hole on that level, was damaged and 
communication with occupants in the towers was lost. (Photo courtesy of Port 
Authority Risk Management.)

Emergency generators on the B-6 level. Cooling water lines for these units were 
ruptured by the blast, shutting down all emergency power. (Photo courtesy of 
Port Authority Risk Management.)

Controlling access to public buildings is a major concern for building 
management. After the incident, Port Authority, in addition to many security 
changes, installed substantial barriers to unauthorized vehicle access. The 
barrier, controlled by security personnel in the booth, folds down when the 
driver has been cleared to enter. (Photos courtesy of Port Authority Risk 
Management.)