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CNN Live At Daybreak
America's New War: Service Held for Deceased Firemen
Aired September 18, 2001 - 07:39 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 ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Right now we turn our attention to Martin Savidge, who joins us from outside the Eighth Avenue fire station. This, in fact, was the battalion that was among the first to be called to what had happened down at the World Trade Centers -- good morning, Martin.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Paula.
We want to give you an idea of exactly where we are in midtown Manhattan. We are at the intersection, as you pointed out, at Eighth Avenue and West 48th Street. It is right in the heart of downtown Manhattan. Broadway would be about a block east from here. Times Square would be just literally around the corner from this particular point.
And since the 1800s, a firehouse has stood on this particular spot. It still does. It is Engine 54, Ladder 4, Battalion 9. And now this firehouse here has become a shrine.
There were 15 firefighters from this firehouse alone that are now listed among the missing.
Prior to last Tuesday, that would have been unthinkable. Now for many people it is almost unbearable. As you look upon the scene here that New Yorkers have spread out in front of this firehouse, it is almost unimaginable. There are so many flowers it looks like a florist shop, so many candles that the perfume from them hangs heavy in the air. What used to be a life saving station has now become a station of reflection for so many people.
And it would probably be a good time now to introduce you to those firefighters. You can see that their photographs have been placed high above the wall here of the firehouse. Al Feinberg (ph), Dave Willy (ph), Jose Guadeloupe (ph), Ed Garrity (ph), Chris Santora (ph), Joe Angelini (ph), John Tipping (ph), Carl Lasaro (ph), Len Rigaglia (ph), Dan O'Callahan, Mike Haab (ph), Mike Brennan (ph), Mike Lynch, Paul Gill (ph), Sam Otis (ph).
Last night in New York City over at St. Patrick's Cathedral, they held a memorial service for all of the emergency personnel that have been lost in this great tragedy. It was filled to capacity. Inside that church were the family members. On the outside of that church was the greater family now of New York City. There were hymns, there were praise and there was prayer. The firefighters in this community have had a special bond with the people of New York City for a long, long time, mainly because the city is so big, so compact, so much in danger of fire. But never before has that bond been so close and never before has it been so painful.
When you talk to the firefighters that are still manning this firehouse here, there is one thing that they point out to you -- they do not believe that the firefighters from this firehouse are lost. They simply say that they are missing and have joined with the thousands of other people that were lost a week ago now waiting to be found -- Paula.
ZAHN: Martin, there has been so much debate among some of the firefighters who have appeared on the air here about how this terrorist attack might change the way firefighters go about doing their business. One firefighter said we're not going to be firefighters anymore, we're going to be soldiers.
Are you getting any reaction there to how their roles might have changed?
SAVIDGE: Well, I think the firefighters here, like the people of New York, like the people of this nation, are still sorting through their emotions, their feelings, still going through the aftermath.
I think firefighters obviously are a very special breed of people, whether they're in New York City or whether they're in Peoria, Illinois. And first and foremost, they always see themselves as life savers, as rescuers. I don't think there is anything, no matter how great the tragedy, that is going to erase that from their training or their background or from their hearts. It's hard to believe that they would look at themselves as soldiers first, Paula.
ZAHN: Well, I think, Martin, what they were saying is that they hope that as a result of what was experienced here that perhaps there will be greater thinking of the kind of equipment they should be routinely given and, of course, that's something that will be debated in the months to come.
Martin Savidge, thanks so much for that report, beautifully done.
We should also mention, on September 23, a mass memorial for New York City firefighters and other firefighters who have come here to serve and who got hurt or who got killed will be held on September, like I said, 23 in Central Park. More than a million folks are expected to attend that service.
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