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CNN Live Sunday
America Recovers: How They Survived
Aired September 30, 2001 - 15:54 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.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: Firefighters from Ladder Company Six in New York's Chinatown were still inside the World Trade Center when the towers collapsed. How they managed to survive is nothing short of remarkable -- some might even say a miracle.
CNN's Brian Palmer has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
BRIAN PALMER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Bill Butler smiles and poses for a photographer but at times like this it doesn't come naturally. He was just about to go off duty the morning of September 11th.
BILL BUTLER, BATTALION 9, LADDER 6, NEW YORK CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT: All of a sudden there was a loud crash and then smoke was coming up around the buildings here that block it. So we immediately knew that it had gone into the Trade Center.
PALMER: Butler and the firefighters of Ladder Company Six sprinted into the North Tower to rescue those trapped on the 80th floor.
BUTLER: We saw a shadow go over and it was actually the second plane coming in to hit the second tower. And it was at that point that my captain had come back and had met up with us and he said, "They're trying to kill us."
PALMER: As the streets outside were engulfed in fire, devastation and an erupting cloud of debris people were fleeing the towers -- filling the stairwells. As they headed down Butler and Ladder Six kept going up the stairs of the North Tower.
BUTLER: About every 10 floors we would take a break but all this while we're going up we have people coming down that are severely burned -- and to the point where they were actually -- they had no clothes on. There were men taking their sport coats off that were coming down and wrapping the women up, you know, so they would be -- you know, to keep their privacy. And people were actually, you know -- "Go get 'em, guys. God bless you guys. You're the best."
PALMER: When the other tower collapsed the firefighters were ordered to evacuate but they kept doing their job all the way down.
On the 15th floor Butler's job became helping an injured woman named Josephine to safety. She was exhausted already from hiking down 60 flights of stairs. They paused to encourage her.
BUTLER: So I said, "Do you have grandchildren?" And she said, "Yes, I do." And I said, "Well, Josephine," I said, "We need to get you out of here today. And we need to get -- your grandchildren want to see you at home tonight. You need to -- we need to get you moving down these stairs."
PALMER: Then the North Tower collapsed. Miraculously around them but not on top of them.
BUTLER: Her legs were weak. I mean, she was actually dipping down. I was carrying most of her weight probably.
PALMER: Eleven of them were trapped in but protected by a three story high pocket of mangled steel and crushed concrete.
BUTLER: We had no idea of the severity of the collapse at this point. We had no idea -- you know, we're telling them that, you know, you come in the front door, you make a right and our stairwell's like 50 to 100 feet away.
PALMER: Ladder Six still didn't know the tower above them had disintegrated.
BUTLER: At one point the sun actually shined in and it was at this point that we were able to see out. The smoke cleared. It was like the parting of the Red Sea.
PALMER: Butler called his wife from a fading cell phone.
BUTLER: I said, "Listen, don't cry right now." I said, "This is not the time to cry." And she kind of like bit her lip I guess. And I said, "You need to call -- make some phone calls for us."
PALMER: Those calls finally led rescuers to them almost five hours later. Butler still can't explain why they survived but they believe Josephine -- the grandmother they had saved -- had something to do with their survival.
BUTLER: He pace just put us right in the right spot. I mean, had we been a little bit quicker we may have been in the lobby and crushed in the lobby. He we been a little bit slower maybe -- we may have still been on the 7th floor. And, like I said, it only -- it collapsed below like the 6th floor. Just so many different little factors that took place that put us in that spot.
PALMER: One factor the firefighter leaves out gracefully -- the courage of he and his men who were saved by a woman they were sent to rescue. Brian Palmer, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
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