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American Morning

America's New War: Firefighter Tells His Story

Aired September 17, 2001 - 10:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAUN, CNN ANCHOR: Right now we're going to go to Michael Okwu, who is standing by downtown. He has a story to share with us this morning about a firefighter's dramatic experience.

Hi, Michael. How are you doing this morning?

MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Paula, I'm doing OK.

As you can see, of course, the plume of white smoke that come to symbolize the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) over the city continues to rise.

Firefighters are telling us that there are fires that are raging deep within the rubble and they can't stop those fires until they move some debris from the area.

One of the firefighters who has been working on this scene is Kenny Haskel (ph). He joins me now, and he has an extraordinary story to tell us.

Kenny, you have two brothers who are firefighters who responded to this scene last Tuesday.

KENNY HASKEL (ph), NEW YORK CITY FIREFIGHTER: Right.

OKWU: Tell me, if you can, what happened.

HASKEL: Timmy is a firefighter in Squad 18, which is here in Manhattan. My brother Tommy is the captain of Ladder Company 132 in Brooklyn.

Initially, a fire of this magnitude necessitates a multiple alarm response, so Tommy's company had come in from Brooklyn actually on the first call, which was immediately a fifth alarm. I was home myself at the time when I heard it on the news, and we were -- they were recalling all firemen to come into the city; if they were off duty, to report to their firehouses, which is what I did.

And as on my way in I was trying to acquire whether or not Timmy and Tommy were (UNINTELLIGIBLE) both working. I wasn't sure at the time. It wasn't until I actually got in here into Manhattan at sometime that night, 8:00, 9:00 at night that I had saw some people that confirmed that they were both, in fact, inside the buildings when they came down.

OKWU: So, as far as you know right now, one of your brothers has been found dead.

HASKEL: Timmy has been found. He was found several days ago. I was underneath tower one, a void of tower one, the day before yesterday when they -- word had spread that they found him and some of the members from my company came and got me and they told me that Timmy had been found. And I left, and they had sent a van to pick me up.

OKWU: Now, you have another bother who's not a firefighter, but you were telling me earlier that both of you went in and literally were working the site...

HASKEL: That's right.

OKWU: ... looking for your brother.

HASKEL: Kevin had actually gone back with me Wednesday morning when I went back, and he was helping me search, which is, I guess, a bittersweet type of thing. It's hard to describe, it was surreal. But I was very grateful to have him there. It made it somewhat easier to deal with. To know I was looking for two of my brothers but still one by my side was comforting.

OKWU: I tell you, I've done a number of interviews since this happened on Tuesday, and, frankly, as I told you before the cameras were rolling, it's uncomfortable for me to actually even talk to you about this and to give some of the grim details about what's going on beneath the soot and debris in the World Trade Center. How is it for you personally to continue work this site as a volunteer firefighter, when you know that you have lost two brothers?

HASKEL: Obviously, it's very difficult. I just come here every day filled with optimism that I am in fact going to find my brother Tommy alive, and that's what motivates me, pushes me to continue looking. Obviously, it is difficult, but this is also my job, it's what is expected of me. And I do it readily.

OKWU: This is a very difficult question, but the very grim reality of this is that rescue workers are telling us they're finding more body parts than they're actually finding bodies. You have been in there and you have seen that. That has got to be very difficult for you personally?

HASKEL: Well...

OKWU: Why continue working the site?

HASKEL: On Wednesday I was actually involved with the rescue of a female who was alive, and that lifted my spirits obviously, we were able to find someone alive and rescue here and save her life. And I'm convinced that there are still people in there. There's a tremendous voids, some of which you could actually walk into. There's a hope -- we're hoping that many of these people were fortunate enough to land into these voids and the rubble that was coming down around them was actually -- the steel that surrounded them actually sheltered them from the remaining debris. That's what they're looking for. Obviously, our window of opportunity is decreasing as time goes by, but if we can get -- somehow get into the towers and make a deeper push to some of the sublevels, I think we will find some people alive.

OKWU: Kenny, thank you for talking to us, and I wish you the best of luck.

HASKEL: Thank you.

OKWU: Paula, as you can see an extraordinary story. One of the many stories of heroism here, not just one firefighter, but three, just not all of them made it.

Back to you.

ZAUN: Thanks, Michael.

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