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American Morning
Look at Fire Squad That Lost Six to 9/11 Attacks
Aired March 11, 2002 - 08:22 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.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to "AMERICAN MORNING" on the sixth anniversary of that memorable day, September the 11th. That morning, once it became clear what was going on, there were tens of thousands of people fleeing the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. And while they were on their way out, New York's firefighters were going in -- going in to those smoke-filled buildings trying to save other people's lives, doing their job.
Three hundred forty-three New York firefighters died that morning. That's more than the entire fire department of Salt Lake City, Utah, and six of those firefighters came from Unit 252 in Brooklyn. You saw those faces in that report that was on preceding this one.
Michael Okwu has their story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): September 11, 2001 it's 9:28 a.m., 37 minutes before the collapse of the World Trade Center South Tower and the last time all of these men would be photographed together alive. All six are about to die saving others.
ROB MCDERMOTT, SQUAD 252: I love being a fireman, but coming into the firehouse is -- it's just not the same. There's always that -- there will always be that emptiness here.
OKWU: They were all brothers in Brooklyn's Squad 252, Pat Lyons, Tarel Coleman, Pete Langone. They called Kevin Fryer (ph) Moe because that's what he called everybody. Thomas Kuveikis, they simply called TK. And then there was the lieutenant, Timothy Higgins.
RICH MYERS, SQUAD 252: I was on the crew for that day and Lieutenant Higgins said we're going in, well all of us would have followed him right in. Wherever he would have went, I would have gone -- no doubt.
OKWU: Squad 252 was among the first units to respond to the attacks on the World Trade Center. An elite company, they are specifically trained to free victims from confined spaces and to save other firefighters -- to be on hand even when a hero needs a hero.
JEFFREY CONVERSE, SQUAD 252: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Pete (ph) looks up and he sees both towers are going. We've got, you know, an immense fire situation in both towers. So you know it's about -- now we've got a long task in front of us.
OKWU: For all the loss, 25,000 people escaped from the Twin Towers. Eyewitnesses tell stories about men from Squad 252 rushing to the North Tower's 10th floor where civilians were trapped in an elevator.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lieutenant Higgins, as was his personality, introduced himself to the people in the elevator to calm them down -- Lieutenant Higgins, we're here to help you. I'm going to get you out of here, and Lieutenant Higgins and Kevin Fryer (ph) forced the door open to the elevator, got all 12 people out, walked them down to the lobby.
OKWU: Back on ground level, they heard a May Day call from other firefighters on the 50th floor and so they went back up. An internal fire department fire review reportedly reveals that firefighters faced conditions even more dire than previously known. What remains unclear is whether more lives might have been spared had their communication system been working the way it normally would have.
CAPTAIN PETER GORMAN, UNIFORMED FIRE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION: There certainly were communications problems on 9/11. The incident commanders in both towers had reported that it was difficult to get a confirmation that their messages were being received on some of the upper floors.
OKWU: The bodies of Timothy Higgins and Kevin Fryer (ph) were found 18 days later. The others are still missing, which is why since 9/11 somebody from Squad 252 is usually here at ground zero. Six months later for all firefighters, it is still a call to arms.
STERLING ALVES, SQUAD 252: It's a very unique situation. We're brought back to the same site, a battle as (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
OKWU: Six months later 200 firefighters are on leave due to respiratory problems. One hundred and three are out due to stress, and still there's guilt about having survived.
How would you characterize what these six months have been like psychologically?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, they could do a study on us. And they could -- maybe they should. I can't really characterize it, but psychologically, a study should be done. Why we're able to continue or what makes us go on, I don't know, and I don't think anybody here knows.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
OKWU: What they do know is that since September 11, life has just not been the same. Every fire is just a routine almost, and yet, very much a reminder of what happened on that faithful day, and one more thing, Jack, political leaders, of course, will have a number of events today throughout the course of the day commemorating September 11, but the largest gathering you will likely see of firefighters will be at the funeral of Richard Allen, who worked with Ladder Company 15. Firefighters we have talked to say that they will not have any commemorative events until all of their fallen brothers have been recovered from the rubble and the wreckage of the World Trade Center -- Jack.
CAFFERTY: Thanks, Michael, very much. Michael Okwu reporting this morning from Brooklyn -- Paula.
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