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World Trade Center Attack recalled by fire chief.
Author: | Sunday June 15, 2008
Chief Richard Picciotto recalls day of attack in his book and in talks before audiences.
World Trade Center Attack
Recounted by FDNY Chief
It is difficult to believe that is nearly seven years since the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. We all knew where we were when we heard the news or saw the attack on television. Most of us were in the safety of our homes, cars or at work.
FDNY Fire Chief, Richard "Pitch" Picciotto was on a stairwell, between the sixth and seventh floors of the North Tower when it collapsed around him and dozens of others trying to escape the building. He lived to tell the story and recently, Georgia Self Insurers heard first hand what it was like on that day to be at ground zero.
Pounding the podium for emphasis and to try and describe the horrible sounds, Picciotto recounted how he and his team climbed over 30 stories into the North Tower to seek out survivors and lead them to safety. Hiking up 36-inch wide stairwells with a hundred pounds of gear while streams of humanity were coming from the other direction was exhausting.
When the neighboring South Tower collapsed in just ten seconds, the sound was like nothing the firefighter had ever heard in his life. He knew it was time to get out of the building. "We made it back to just below the seventh floor when the sound we heard before came again, only it was in our tower. I asked God to make it quick," he recalled.
He began to fall. Then all was black as steel and concrete ground to fine powder surrounded Picciotto and a dozen others who survived. He was the highest-ranking firefighter and the last fireman to escape. He has written a book and talks to groups "a couple of times a month."
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