9/11 Firefighters POV

9/11 Firefighters Autobiography

September 11th 2001, started off just like any ordinary day. I followed the same mundane activities as a firefighter. My morning always starts off by hugging my wife and stopping by the petrol station on my way to work to buy a cup of hot espresso and nursing it till its warm. I would see all my fellow diligent and committed colleagues at 7AM and we somehow always tended to arrive at least 15 minutes early to report for duty. We tried readying our bunker gear and placing them in our assigned trucks as soon as possible so we could respond to any emergencies.

We usually are confident and in-readiness which lets us smoothly take hold of the heat-y situations, however this incident was different. The New York Fire Department received several calls within the span of hardly a few seconds and this was at around 8:46am. Our department was informed that there was a massive fire in the North Tower from the twin towers.I was scared. We left as soon as a quick technical report was made and then our first respondent fire emergency team reached immediately.

The situation was tense and my team and I rushed to the site. The higher floors in The North Tower were completely destroyed flames spreading through the million dollar worth building giving off thick grey smoke and intense sounds of the crackling sounds was terrifying. This was something out of the blue. We were unprepared, unaware and uneasy. None of the bystanders or government officials thought of it to be a terrorist attack.

We realized that this was planned and not an accidental faulty mishap when the South Tower was hit by an ordinary metal flying bird at 9:03. This was by terrorist group called Al- Qaeda and the terrorist was Mohammed Atta. Both the towers were-now on fire and I could see several people from the window helplessly trying to gain our attention from the huge commotion beneath and around them. As I was standing down in disbelief, I saw the red and blue sirens making their way through the crowd and stationing themselves near the site. The noisiness, confusion and vehement aggression was taking over everyone's minds.

Since the toxic smoke was rising and increasing, people from the towers were getting unconscious and suffocated and so the people decided to open the windows which made the matters even worse. The smoke started spreading rapidly through the area and the temperature was rising. which meant that they needed to get evacuated without delay. As my water pipe poured out the water, my anger along with the nations vexation poured out on the destructed materials. A few of the survivors ran out of the building with burnt red faces and salty tears running and stinging down their cheeks . I could see a shirtless man trying to draw our attention to rescue him by twirling and turning his white shirt which however wasn't capitulating . I kept my hopes high and carried on with my duties and then I saw something awful happen. The weight of all the equipments was now even more heavy on my shoulders due to the responsibility, hope, reliance and anger that pressurized us even more.

I still evocatively can recollect those awful scenes in my mind. There were loud thumping and slumping sounds like sacs of wet cement hitting the ground. I wondered what it was until I looked up and saw people picking death by their own choice rather than forceful death. Innocent people were jumping off the windows of the towers. I saw a man standing on the window railing in his brown coat and then saw him jump off and turn like a windmill, that last was when I heard this body hitting the ground. Much later, this went on like a cannon or retrograde, people kept jumping off. I clenched my eyes and felt my throat form a ball of clogged up emotions resisting the urge to cry. As if this wasn't enough, The South Tower collapsed and then a 102 minutes later so did The North Tower. All that was left for us to do was to find all the dead bodies. We failed as one of the best firefighting departments in the world.

I could see the victims bodies lying under the dirt and the sound of them jumping off barged into my head. The smell of the smoke, my numb arms at the end of the day and the taste of salty tears and sweat is something I'll never forget. Those terrorists had minds of worthless wretched tyrant monsters. They've failed to make the nation weak, this attack has just made us all stronger and better individuals.