.
Huntington Volunteer Fire Company Number 1
1 Maple Avenue
Phillipsburg, NJ 08865-3936
Telephone (908) 454-9121

Lt. William Butler -  Guest speaker NJSFA Convention September 2011


Manhattan Box 5-5-8087, 9/11/2001, the worst day in
fire service history, the best day in fire service history.
We are gathered here today to memorialize our
brothers, most of us still sad and dealing with some
form of grief. But as much as I hurt today, a short ten
years later, I am trying to focus on the duty, honor,
service and sacrifice we witnessed that day. Although
we didn’t have the opportunity to witness the efforts of
each and every member of our department that day, I
think we all know, exactly what they were doing. My
company, Ladder 6, responded as part of the initial
response for the North Tower, Tower One. Thousands
of people lined the streets for a curious view, plane
parts lying in the street, people with severe burns
sitting on the curb being cared for by initial responders
from EMS and the Port Authority. What we saw was
horrific, but this day was about to get worse. One plane
into the World Trade Center, was this a horrible
accident or an act of terrorism? We were about to find
out. We gathered our tools and made a dash into the
building. Once inside, there was the appearance that an
explosion of some sort occurred in the lobby, caused by
the plane striking the building.
Although the lobby had the appearance of chaos, things
were not chaotic. Numerous people injured and burned,
elevator car doors off the hinges, but everyone seemed
subdued and methodical, they were doing what needed
to be done. The Incident Commander stated to Jay
Jonas, Captain of Ladder 6:“Go up and see what you
can do ”, a somewhat vague assignment by a chief I was
used to being very thorough and specific in his requests.
Understandable, considering at this point we didn ’t
know where we would encounter fire, mass casualties
or both. It appeared that we were going to be the front
lines on this thing. A daunting challenge, but the FDNY
fights hundreds of hi-rise fires each year, I think we all
thought this was going to be as tough as they get, but
we would prevail. Suddenly, a fireball erupted out of
the South Tower, reality set in, this was definitely
terrorism, and our country was under attack! Our
Captain returned from the Command Post and stated
“Boys,they are trying to kill us, let ’s go ”! Without
question or comment we made our way into Stairway B,
along with the likes of Rescue 1 and numerous other
companies who wouldn’t return that day.
Many of the brothers embracing each other or a simple
handshake or nod, wishing each other well and good
luck. After all, we are one; we are a band of brothers!
That stairwell and its size would prove to be one of the
main factors in who made it and who didn’t. The initial
entry was delayed due to the number of civilians trying
to come out a door made for one person. Once in the
stairwell, our trek was long and hard. Trying to pass
civilians who were trying to help another civilian proved
difficult and really slowed the effort. Normally, we
would have relieved these people of their horrific task.
Not today, not with the scope of this incident, not with
the possibility of thousands of people above us, civilians
unable to remove themselves. Ladder 6’s assignment as
a Truck Company is Search and Rescue. We had to
maintain our focus, we had to move on. We made it to
the 28th floor when suddenly our building began to
shake violently, the South Tower was collapsing. The
radio was silent. My Captain made the difficult decision
to evacuate this building, if one could go, they both
could go. Numerous companies reluctantly made the
trek downward.
On the 19th floor we came upon Josephine Harris. A 60
year old Port Authority worker, whose body was giving
out on her. She needed help, but we needed to keep
moving. Time was not on our side, but we had no
choice, this is what we do. This is what all the
companies were doing that day. We began a long slow
journey down the “B ”Stairwell. We got to the 5th floor
and the rumbling and shaking came back. This time it
was even more intense. Everything went dark. It
sounded like two high speed trains going in different
directions around us. The Tower was collapsing. Boom,
boom, boom, boom, getting ever faster. The sound of
the pancaking floors and bending metal was deafening.
Nowhere to go, nowhere to hide. I really thought this
was it. Some 19 seconds later I was alive, as were 11 of
my brothers, Josephine and a PAPD Officer. We would
wait some four hours for the dust to settle and make
our way out. During that time we discussed our options,
were put into survival mode by our Captain and
constantly comforted Josephine.
Eventually radio contact was made with the outside.
They assured us, “Brothers,we are coming to get you ”.
We knew it, because we knew the familiar voices. After
all, we are one, we are a band of brothers! It wasn’t
easy to do, but it was decided that we needed to give
Josephine up to the fresh members from Ladder 43 who
came to our location. Josephine was removed by the
brothers from 43 Truck and we took our wounded to
the street. It was here where we could finally see the
magnitude of this attack, the worst day in fire service
history. We all knew the numbers were going to be
high.

Since 9/11, we have honored and celebrated the lives of
our dead, with a lot of help from many in attendance
today. We have rebuilt the FDNY into the firefighting
force it once was, less some very valuable experience.

A less than publicized fact is that since 9/11, the FDNY
has lost 57 members due to illness caused by their work
at Ground Zero. Many other NYPD, PAPD, Construction
workers and others involved in the recovery effort have
died as well. Countless others are sick. We need to keep
them in our thoughts and prayers as well.

Unfortunately, earlier this year we had to bury
Josephine, our Guardian Angel. The members of Ladder
6 served as her pall bearers and carried her to her final
resting place, a fitting sendoff for a very special person.

What our future holds is unclear to all of us. We must
continue to fight the fight. We need the funding to
maintain our capabilities, including equipment, training
and manpower and we need to prepare ourselves for
that uncertainty. We need to take care of our members,
which includes their physical and emotional needs.

In closing, I’d like you to please remember our veterans,
those serving today and especially our wounded
warriors. They make the freedoms we all enjoy. Thank

You and God Bless!



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