Author: Shoestring
Subject: How Did They Know the Twin Towers Would Collapse? contd.
Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2016 10:25 am (GMT 0)
(Continued from previous post.)
MOST EMERGENCY RESPONDERS EXPECTED THE TWIN TOWERS TO REMAIN STANDING
The accounts of members of the FDNY and other emergency responders who thought the Twin Towers were going to collapse on the morning of September 11 stand out since it appears that nearly all of the emergency workers who responded to the crashes at the World Trade Center expected the towers to remain standing.
NIST, which investigated the collapses of the Twin Towers between 2002 and 2005, reported that "[n]o first responder" it interviewed "thought that the WTC towers would collapse." [94] It stated that the "experience and training" of the senior firefighters it interviewed, "relative to past large high-rise fires within the city [of New York] or elsewhere in the world, did not lead the officers to expect a total collapse of either structure." [95]
Of the FDNY chiefs who operated from the lobby of the North Tower following the first crash, "No one anticipated the possibility of a total collapse," the 9/11 Commission Report stated. Furthermore, "To our knowledge," the report said, "none of the chiefs present" at the FDNY's outdoor command post "believed that a total collapse of either tower was possible." [96]
Peter Guidetti recalled that of the members of the "upper echelon" of the FDNY he talked to after the Twin Towers collapsed, "nobody [had] thought the building was coming down." These men were "knowledgeable guys," he said. They were "fire officers." And, he recalled, they told him, "We did not think the building was coming down." [97]
Battalion Chief Robert Ingram, who, along with other senior FDNY officials, set up a command post near the Twin Towers in response to the first crash, commented that when the first tower came down, "it was a complete surprise to everyone in the command post area." [98] Deputy Commissioner Lynn Tierney, who headed to the World Trade Center immediately after she learned of the first crash, encountered several senior FDNY officials at the scene. "No one ever thought the towers were going to come down," she recalled. [99]
Firefighter Timothy Burke, who arrived with his unit at the World Trade Center shortly after Flight 175 crashed into the South Tower, has commented, "No one thought the buildings would come down or that they'd come down that fast." [100] And Judith Salgado, a borough supervisor who worked in the FDNY's Manhattan command center, recalled, "No one thought those buildings were going to come down." [101]
EMERGENCY RESPONDERS WERE SHOCKED WHEN THEY WERE TOLD THE TOWERS WERE GOING TO COLLAPSE
Some emergency responders who were told the Twin Towers were going to collapse were astonished when they were given the warning. This suggests they found it unthinkable that the towers would come down. Joseph Torrillo recalled that when he told firefighters and other emergency responders that the towers were going to come down, these people "started looking at me cross-eyed, wondering, 'How the hell are two buildings going to collapse?'" [102] "Nobody could understand why I was saying that," he commented. [103]
When Torrillo told his friend from the FDNY, Anthony Mancuso, that the towers were going to collapse and instructed him to move his engine away from them, Mancuso was "at first reluctant to leave the disaster scene, not knowing why [Torrillo] would have such insight," author Will Merrill described. Since "[n]o high-rise building had ever fallen before," Mancuso "was obviously hesitant to take the advice of a contemporary." [104]
Firefighters Peter Ganci and Steve Mosiello were incredulous when they were given the message that the towers were going to collapse. After Richard Zarillo came to their command post and told them, "The buildings have been compromised; we need to evacuate; they're going to collapse," Mosiello gave "a very confused look," Zarillo recalled, and said, "Who told you that?" When Ganci heard the warning, he asked, "Who the * told you that?" [105]
MEN WHO THOUGHT THE TOWERS WOULD COLLAPSE HAD EXPERTISE THAT SHOULD HAVE LED THEM TO BELIEVE OTHERWISE
The fact that a few experts and emergency responders thought the Twin Towers might collapse on the morning of September 11 is curious not only because these men's predictions went against conventional thinking but also because several of the men had particular expertise and/or experience that should have led them to think the towers would remain standing.
Joseph Torrillo had, before he joined the FDNY, gained a degree in structural engineering. [106] He should presumably therefore have understood how buildings react to fire and structural damage.
Furthermore, while he was studying for his degree, two of his professors "worked for the concrete contractor on the Twin Towers," and "were able to take me and the other engineering students down to the towers when they were [being built] so we could study them," he recalled. [107] Torrillo claimed his recollections of these visits led him to think the Twin Towers would collapse on September 11. [108] During the visits, he had "noticed the innovative construction process that used much less steel than other, more traditional skyscrapers," and observed "how lightweight and how flimsy these buildings were." [109]
And yet the Twin Towers were "especially sturdy, with load-bearing, reinforced steel-mesh walls," according to Mark Loizeaux. [110] They had been designed to withstand earthquakes and hurricane-force winds. [111] According to NIST, "The wind loads used for the WTC towers, which governed the structural design of the external columns and provided the baseline capacity of the structures to withstand abnormal events such as major fires or impact damage, significantly exceeded the requirements of the New York City Building Code and other building codes" at the time the towers were built. [112]
The Twin Towers were therefore anything but "flimsy," like Torrillo suggested. So surely his background in structural engineering should have led Torrillo to think they would remain standing after being hit by planes and suffering fires on September 11. And yet he confidently predicted that they were going to collapse.
The New York City Department of Buildings engineer who warned that the North Tower was in danger of an "imminent collapse" may, too, have had particular knowledge and experience that should have led him to think the Twin Towers could withstand the damage and fires they suffered on September 11.
The Department of Buildings is responsible for overseeing the construction of residential and commercial buildings in New York. It enforces the city's building code and its standards for how long the materials used in buildings should stand up in fires. Its activities include examining building plans and inspecting properties. [113] An employee of this department, therefore, may well have a good understanding of how buildings react in adverse conditions, such as fires.
Additionally, his training and experience as an engineer could have given the Buildings Department employee who warned that the Twin Towers were going to collapse an understanding of the effects that fires have on buildings. If so, considering that no steel-framed high-rise had ever collapsed due to fire before, it seems odd that this man thought--with apparent certainty--that the towers were going to collapse on September 11.
Mark Loizeaux would surely have understood, as the head of a company that specializes in using explosives to make buildings collapse, what was necessary to bring down steel-framed high-rises, like the Twin Towers. Additionally, he had studied architectural engineering at university. [114] During his studies, he actually produced a report on the World Trade Center. Consequently, he has commented, he "knew exactly how [the World Trade Center] was built." And yet the president of Controlled Demolition Inc. said he thought it was "inevitable" that the Twin Towers would collapse on September 11. [115]
Peter Guidetti has admitted possessing knowledge that should have led him to think the Twin Towers would remain standing on September 11. About 20 years before 9/11, he recalled, he talked to an architectural engineer who helped build high-rises. He questioned the man about what would happen if a Boeing 747--the largest commercial aircraft in operation at the time--filled with jet fuel crashed into the 80th floor of one of the Twin Towers. Would the 30 floors above the area of impact topple off? The engineer replied: "Oh, no, it's not designed to do that. ... That would not happen." He said the effects of a large commercial aircraft hitting one of the towers had been taken into consideration when the World Trade Center was built. The towers "had been designed and constructed in such a way to prevent that kind of disaster," he told Guidetti.
And yet, after he learned that the North Tower had been hit by a plane and then saw it on fire, Guidetti told members of the public that the building was going to collapse and they needed to get away from it. "I was amazed at why I thought [the Twin Towers] were coming down," he has commented. [116]
Ray Downey, like Guidetti, knew the Twin Towers had been built to withstand the impact of a plane, according to Fire Chief Mike Antonucci, who had been a close friend of his. He appears to in fact have had a good general knowledge of the World Trade Center. Antonucci recalled that he and Downey talked about building structures "all the time" and had "numerous conversations about the Twin Towers." [117] Downey directed recovery work at the World Trade Center when it was bombed in February 1993, so would surely have gained valuable knowledge about the towers from this experience. [118]
Downey was also an expert on building collapses. He was "probably the most knowledgeable person on building collapses there was," Antonucci said. [119] Robert Ingram called him "the premiere collapse expert in the country." [120]
With his expertise, Downey presumably should have thought the Twin Towers would remain standing, despite the structural damage and fires they suffered on September 11. And yet he warned people that they might collapse. [121] (However, as previously mentioned, there is evidence that he thought there might be explosives planted in the towers, so this may be why he believed they could come down.)
HAD THE MEN WHO THOUGHT THE TWIN TOWERS WOULD COLLAPSE LEARNED WHAT WOULD HAPPEN ON SEPTEMBER 11?
The collapses of the Twin Towers, if they occurred without the use of explosives, were freak incidents. Nothing like them had happened before September 11 and nothing like them has happened since then. So why did men like Joseph Torrillo, Mark Loizeaux, Anthony Whitaker, Peter Guidetti, Ray Downey, and the unnamed Department of Buildings engineer, whose actions are described in this article, predict--sometimes with apparent certainty--that the towers were going to collapse?
Did they just possess remarkable foresight, such that they were able to envisage something their colleagues and many experts failed to anticipate? Or did they have at least some foreknowledge of what was going to happen on September 11? Did they know, for example, that explosives had been planted in the Twin Towers and there was a plan to bring down the towers as part of the 9/11 attacks?
If any of these men knew in advance that the towers were going to collapse, there are various ways in which they could have acquired this foreknowledge. The men may all have learned the towers were going to collapse on September 11 via the same means or they may have learned about the planned collapses in different ways to each other.
MEN COULD HAVE BEEN DECEIVED INTO ASSISTING THE PLANNING OF THE ATTACKS
While it is plausible that some or all of the men who predicted that the Twin Towers were going to collapse had foreknowledge of the collapses because they were willing participants in the planning and preparation of the 9/11 attacks, the fact that many of them worked hard to save lives at the World Trade Center makes this possibility seem unlikely.
Perhaps, instead, some or all of them were coerced into helping with the planning and/or preparation of the attacks and thereby learned what was going to happen on September 11. The men could have been blackmailed or otherwise threatened into providing assistance. They may have warned people that the Twin Towers were in danger of collapsing after the hijacked planes crashed into them because they had been ordered to keep quiet about what they had learned but they also wanted to save lives. They told people they thought the towers were going to collapse, without mentioning the possibility of there being explosives in them, as a way of getting people safely away from the doomed buildings without revealing their foreknowledge of the attacks.
Alternatively, the men could have been deceived into assisting the preparations for 9/11 without realizing they were helping rogue individuals plan an attack on the World Trade Center. Maybe they suddenly understood how they had been misled and realized the attacks would likely involve demolishing the Twin Towers when they saw that planes had crashed into the Trade Center on the morning of September 11. Upon this realization, they may have wanted to make use of their knowledge to try and save lives, by alerting people to the impending collapses.
There are probably numerous ways in which the men could have been deceived into inadvertently helping with the planning of the 9/11 attacks. One possible method worth considering is that they were told that, for economic reasons, authorities were assessing whether it was possible to bring down the Twin Towers. The men may have been told that, due to their expertise, they would be able to help determine if and how the towers could be demolished.
It would, of course, have been impossible to carry out a standard controlled demolition of the massive towers in such a densely populated area as Lower Manhattan. But the men could perhaps have been told that authorities wanted to know if the towers could be brought down a few floors a time, beginning with the uppermost floors. On the basis of this disinformation, they could have been tricked into helping to carry out a study of how to bring down the Twin Towers with explosives.
The men could have been told that authorities wanted to get rid of the towers because the buildings were outdated and should ideally be replaced with something better suited to the modern world. This state of affairs was in fact described in a book about the Twin Towers published in 1999. In Divided We Stand, author Eric Darton opined that it was "inconceivable that the World Trade Center could be built today--or even for a moment considered a workable or desirable project." He wrote, "From an economic standpoint, the Trade Center--subsidized since its inception--has never functioned, nor was it intended to function, unprotected in the rough-and-tumble real estate marketplace."
As early as 1993, when it was bombed by terrorists, the World Trade Center "was already passing its prime as office space, overtaken by a generation of more recent, cybernetically 'smart' buildings with higher ceilings and greater built-in electrical capacity," Darton wrote. [122]
ANTI-TERRORISM RESEARCH COULD HAVE HELPED DETERMINE HOW TO ATTACK THE WORLD TRADE CENTER
Another method by which innocent men could have been tricked into inadvertently helping with the planning of the 9/11 attacks is that the men were invited to help conduct what they were told was a study to examine the vulnerability of the World Trade Center to a terrorist attack. The study could have examined such things as how terrorists might get past security and plant explosives in the Twin Towers. But, without the men's knowledge, it could have been intended to help those behind 9/11 plan the attacks. Among other things, it could have helped them work out how to bring down the towers with explosives and how to evade security at the Trade Center in order to plant the explosives.
It is worth noting that at least two of the men who said the Twin Towers were in danger of collapsing on the morning of September 11--Mark Loizeaux and Ray Downey--had expertise in dealing with terrorism. Loizeaux provided consulting services on "antiterrorist measures to mitigate the effect of attacks on structures." [123] And Downey, as commander of the Special Operations Command, was responsible for planning the FDNY's response to terrorist attacks. According to a book written by his nephew, he "worked out various scenarios for terrorist attacks--who would be the first, second, and third of his companies on scene; what would each unit do. He studied floor plans of major landmarks, looked at aerial views of the city, thought about traffic routes, bridges, and tunnels." [124]
Downey had taught some of his techniques for dealing with terrorists to senior commanders of the Marine Corps and the Navy. The training involved "running combat scenarios in high-rise buildings and sewers, some of them in the [World] Trade Center neighborhood," according to Newsday. [125] Additionally, he served on the Gilmore Commission, an advisory panel established in 1999 to assess America's capabilities for responding to domestic terrorist incidents involving weapons of mass destruction. [126] And in his spare time, he "traveled across the country, preaching the need to prepare for terrorism," Hal Bruno, chairman of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, said. [127] The New York Daily News actually called Downey "the world's leading expert in responding to terrorist attacks." [128]
Loizeaux and Downey's expertise in dealing with terrorism may have been useful to rogue individuals who were planning a terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. For example, Downey could have provided information about what firefighters and other emergency responders would do if they learned an attack had occurred at the Trade Center. Their expertise in terrorism could therefore have led the perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks to seek out the two men.
And Loizeaux and Downey could have been encouraged to assist with a study that they were informed would examine the vulnerability of the World Trade Center to a terrorist attack by being told that they were being consulted due to their expertise. They could perhaps have been told that authorities wanted to make use of their knowledge about dealing with terrorism to help determine how to prevent an attack on the Trade Center.
MEN COULD HAVE BEEN SOUGHT BY THE 9/11 PERPETRATORS DUE TO THEIR EXPERTISE
The perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks may also have sought out Loizeaux and Downey due to other expertise the two men had, especially if the attacks were going to involve bringing the Twin Towers down with explosives.
Loizeaux had decades of experience in the field of explosive demolition. He had been personally responsible for the supervision of the demolition of over 1,200 structures. [129] He was, according to the Washington Times, "one of the nation's leading experts in demolition." [130]
His firm, Controlled Demolition Inc., was "one of the world's leading demolition companies," according to the BBC. [131] It was reported in 1995 that, over five decades, the company had demolished 1,700 high-rise buildings. [132] The company was responsible for demolishing the tallest structural steel building ever to be imploded--the J. L. Hudson department store in Detroit, which it brought down in October 1998. [133]
John Skilling, the partner in charge at the company that designed the structure of the Twin Towers, said in 1993 that he believed there were "people who do know enough about building demolition to bring a structure like the Trade Center down." "I would imagine that if you took the top expert in that type of work and gave him the assignment of bringing these buildings down with explosives, I would bet that he could do it," he said. [134] Loizeaux was surely a "top expert in that type of work" who, according to Skilling, was capable of bringing down the Twin Towers with explosives.
As previously mentioned, on top of his expertise in demolishing buildings, Loizeaux had knowledge of the structure of the Twin Towers that he acquired from producing a report on the World Trade Center while at college. He has said that he "knew exactly how [the World Trade Center] was built." [135]
Downey had a range of expertise and experience that would presumably have been useful to people who wanted to attack the World Trade Center. He was at the scene of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing immediately after the attack and served as rescue operations commander in response to it. Two years later, he served as rescue operations commander in response to the terrorist bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. [136]
As previously mentioned, he was also a renowned expert on building collapses. [137] His hobby, according to his friend Mike Antonucci, was "to study building collapses." He examined "what affected the engineering of buildings" and "how they [would] weaken." Downey apparently also had knowledge of the structure of the World Trade Center. Antonucci said he and Downey talked about building structures "all the time" and had "numerous conversations about the Twin Towers." [138]
Several of the other men who predicted the collapses of the Twin Towers, whose actions are described in this article, had expertise that would likely have been useful to those planning the 9/11 attacks or were in jobs in which they may have had access to information that would have been useful to the perpetrators of the attacks. Their expertise or their access to key information may therefore have led to these men being sought by the perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks.
For example, as previously mentioned, Joseph Torrillo, as well as being an experienced firefighter, had a degree in structural engineering. [139] And because two of his college professors were involved in the construction of the Twin Towers, Torrillo was taken to the towers when they were being built to study them. [140]
Additionally, Torrillo's first firehouse, where he worked as a firefighter for 15 years, was Ten House, located directly across the street from the Twin Towers. Torrillo had taken "firefighters and captains to floors with exposed structural elements" during drills at the World Trade Center, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. "I would explain what was good and what was bad," he has commented. "I knew the design of those buildings inside and out," he said. [141]
The engineer who told John Peruggia that the North Tower was in danger of an "imminent collapse" could have been sought by people who were planning an attack on the World Trade Center because his job with the New York City Department of Buildings gave him access to information that would be useful to them. Since the Department of Buildings is responsible for overseeing the construction of buildings in New York, and its activities include performing plan examinations and inspecting properties, it is possible that it had copies of the original plans for the World Trade Center or other documents that provided information about the Twin Towers. Some of its employees would presumably have had access to these documents, which would surely have been useful to people who wanted to bring down the towers with explosives.
Anthony Whitaker may have been sought by the people who planned the 9/11 attacks because, due to his position in the PAPD, he knew about the security arrangements at the World Trade Center. Since the World Trade Center was a New York Port Authority property, the PAPD--the Port Authority's independent police agency--was, until September 11, 2001, responsible for providing security there. [142] As the commanding officer at the Trade Center, Whitaker was responsible for all PAPD officers assigned there. [143] He also had "expert knowledge" of the Trade Center, according to a Port Authority account. [144] He would presumably therefore have been able to provide information about vulnerabilities in the security of the center that could be exploited by people who wanted to secretly plant explosives in the Twin Towers.
Peter Guidetti could have been sought because, apparently, he was based at FDNY headquarters, and may consequently have had access to the blueprints for the World Trade Center and other important documents. The MetroTech Center in Brooklyn, where FDNY headquarters is located, "housed the plans of virtually every structure" in New York, author Peter Lance wrote. Documents there included "blueprints that gave firefighters advance details ... of the entrance, egress, and floor plans of the buildings." [145] People who intended to attack the World Trade Center and bring down the Twin Towers with explosives would surely have wanted to examine any documents with information about the towers kept at FDNY headquarters, which Guidetti may have been able to obtain for them.
MEN WHO WARNED OF THE COLLAPSES COULD HELP US UNDERSTAND WHAT HAPPENED ON SEPTEMBER 11
The accounts of the experts and emergency responders who predicted that the Twin Towers were going to collapse on September 11 give rise to numerous questions. Men like Joseph Torrillo, Mark Loizeaux, Anthony Whitaker, Peter Guidetti, and the unnamed Department of Buildings engineer, whose actions are described in this article, therefore ought to be questioned as part of a new investigation of the 9/11 attacks. Investigators need to find out why these men thought the Twin Towers were going to collapse, when their knowledge and experience should have led them to believe that the towers would remain standing.
The men need to be asked what, if anything, they knew about the 9/11 attacks before September 11. Did they know the World Trade Center was going to be attacked? Did they learn that explosives were going to be planted in the Twin Towers and the buildings were going to be demolished?
If they had any foreknowledge of what was going to happen, how did they acquire it? Were they coerced into helping with the planning of the 9/11 attacks and learned what was going to happen when they gave their assistance? Or were they perhaps involved with research, which they were told was intended to determine how to prevent terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center, but was in fact intended to help the perpetrators of 9/11 plan their attack?
If the men who predicted that the Twin Towers were going to collapse on September 11 are able to speak openly, knowing it will be safe for them to do so, we may learn important new information about the 9/11 attacks.
NOTES
[1] Mike Wereschagin, "Buried in the Rubble." Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, September 10, 2006, Will G. Merrill Jr., 9/11 Ordinary People: Extraordinary Heroes. CreateSpace, 2011, pp. 77-82; "OEW Talks to Surviving 9/11 Firefighter." KLYC, June 6, 2011; Billy Hallowell, "Courageous 9/11 Firefighter Describes Miraculously Surviving the Twin Towers' Collapse." TheBlaze, September 11, 2011.
[2] Tom Coombe, "'That Day Started as One of the Most Beautiful I Can Remember.'" Allentown Morning Call, September 11, 2002; Mark Newman, "Buried and Back." Ottumwa Courier, March 28, 2014; Clifford Davis, "9/11 Firefighter Who Survived Attack Tells Jacksonville Students to Embrace Life's Challenges." Florida Times-Union, September 4, 2015.
[3] Will G. Merrill Jr., 9/11 Ordinary People, p. 82; Clifford Davis, "9/11 Firefighter Who Survived Attack Tells Jacksonville Students to Embrace Life's Challenges."
[4] Mike Wereschagin, "Buried in the Rubble."
[5] Mitchell Fink and Lois Mathias, Never Forget: An Oral History of September 11, 2001. New York: HarperCollins, 2002, p. 122.
[6] John Peruggia, interview by Ron Castorina and Tom McCourt. World Trade Center Task Force, October 25, 2001; Jim Dwyer and Kevin Flynn, 102 Minutes: The Untold Story of the Fight to Survive Inside the Twin Towers. New York: Times Books, 2005, pp. 203-204.
[7] Steven Mosiello, interview by Kevin McAllister and James Drury. World Trade Center Task Force, October 23, 2001; Richard Zarrillo, interview by Ron Castorina and Tom McCourt. World Trade Center Task Force, October 25, 2001; Jim Dwyer and Kevin Flynn, 102 Minutes, pp. 208, 210.
[8] John Seabrook, "The Tower Builder." New Yorker, November 19, 2001.
[9] Michael Satchell, "Bringing Down the House." U.S. News & World Report, June 22, 2003.
[10] John Seabrook, "The Tower Builder."
[11] Michael Satchell, "Bringing Down the House"; Liz Else, "Baltimore Blasters." New Scientist, July 24, 2004.
[12] John Seabrook, "The Tower Builder."
[13] Liz Else, "Baltimore Blasters."
[14] Cheryl Wetzstein, "Towers Leveled by Gravity, Fire." Washington Times, September 12, 2001; John Seabrook, "The Tower Builder."
[15] "World Trade Center Heroes Urge Minorities and Women to Consider Careers With the Port Authority Police." Port Authority of New York and New Jersey press release, New York, NY, October 7, 2002; "Port Authority Police Inspector Sworn in as Chief of Department." Port Authority of New York and New Jersey press release, New York, NY, February 6, 2004.
[16] Quentin D. DeMarco to Ed Gutch, memorandum regarding response to World Trade Center on 9/11/01. November 4, 2001, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
[17] Daniel McCarthy to Ed Gutch, memorandum. November 10, 2001, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey; Kevin Flynn and Jim Dwyer, "Officers' Sept. 11 Accounts: Catastrophe in the Details." New York Times, August 30, 2003.
[18] "Statement by Joseph Morris, Former Port Authority Police Chief of Department." 9/11 Commission, May 18, 2004; Hammer, "World Trade Center: An Interview With Port Authority Commanding Officer Joe Morris." Undicisettembre.info, January 11, 2016.
[19] Alan T. DeVona to Joseph M. Morris, memorandum regarding chronological report of the WTC radio transmissions on 09/11/01. November 12, 2001, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey; 9/11 Commission, The 9/11 Commission Report: Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2004, p. 293; J. Randall Lawson and Robert L. Vettori, The Emergency Response Operations. Gaithersburg, MD: National Institute of Standards and Technology, 2005, p. 201.
[20] Jim Dwyer and Kevin Flynn, 102 Minutes, p. 78.
[21] Mitchell Fink and Lois Mathias, Never Forget, pp. 23-24; Dean E. Murphy, September 11: An Oral History. New York: Doubleday, 2002, pp. 180-181.
[22] Mitchell Fink and Lois Mathias, Never Forget, p. 25; Dean E. Murphy, September 11: An Oral History, pp. 184-185.
[23] Jim Dwyer and Kevin Flynn, 102 Minutes, pp. 78-79.
[24] Ibid. p. 79.
[25] Mitchell Fink and Lois Mathias, Never Forget, p. 24.
[26] Pete Guidetti, interview by Kevin McAllister. World Trade Center Task Force, October 12, 2001; Evan Thomas, "The Day That Changed America." Newsweek, December 31, 2001.
[27] Mitchell Fink and Lois Mathias, Never Forget, p. 229; Thomas Von Essen with Matt Murray, Strong of Heart: Life and Death in the Fire Department of New York. New York: Regan Books, 2002, p. 22; Tom Downey, The Last Men Out: Life on the Edge at Rescue 2 Firehouse. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2004, p. 233.
[28] Joe Calderone, "FDNY Boss Warned of Collapse." New York Daily News, December 20, 2001.
[29] Tom Downey, The Last Men Out, p. 233.
[30] John Delendick, interview by Mike Tambasco. World Trade Center Task Force, December 6, 2001.
[31] Joe Calderone, "FDNY Boss Warned of Collapse."
[32] Peter Hayden, interview by Ron Castorina and Tom McCourt. World Trade Center Task Force, October 23, 2001; Joe Calderone, "FDNY Boss Warned of Collapse."
[33] "Deputy Chief Peter Hayden." Firehouse, April 2002.
[34] Joe Calderone, "FDNY Boss Warned of Collapse."
[35] Joseph Callan, interview by Michael Starace and Patrick Campbell. World Trade Center Task Force, November 2, 2001.
[36] Peter Hayden, interview by Ron Castorina and Tom McCourt.
[37] Joseph Callan, interview by Michael Starace and Patrick Campbell; Jim Dwyer, Kevin Flynn, and Ford Fessenden, "A Troubled Emergency Response; 9/11 Exposed Deadly Flaws in Rescue Plan." New York Times, July 7, 2002; "Better Communications Might Have Helped FDNY." Live Event/Special, CNN, September 11, 2002.
[38] Vincent Dunn, "Unanswered Questions About Fire Radios and Communications at the World Trade Center Terrorist Attack on 9/11." NYFD.com, n.d.
[39] Peter Hayden, interview by Ron Castorina and Tom McCourt; Richard Bernstein, Out of the Blue: The Story of September 11, 2001, From Jihad to Ground Zero. New York: Times Books, 2002, p. 229.
[40] Albert Turi, interview by Tom McCourt and James Drury. World Trade Center Task Force, October 23, 2001.
[41] Dennis Smith, Report From Ground Zero: The Story of the Rescue Efforts at the World Trade Center. New York: Viking, 2002, p. 33.
[42] "Deputy Chief Peter Hayden."
[43] Albert Turi, interview by Tom McCourt and James Drury.
[44] J. Randall Lawson and Robert L. Vettori, The Emergency Response Operations, p. 75.
[45] Joe Calderone, "FDNY Boss Warned of Collapse."
[46] Richard Carletti, interview by Joseph Chiafari. World Trade Center Task Force, January 2, 2002.
[47] Joseph Poland to Ed Gutch, memorandum regarding September 11, 2001. March 4, 2002, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey; Kevin Flynn and Jim Dwyer, "Officers' Sept. 11 Accounts."
[48] William Ross to Ed Gutch, memorandum regarding events: September 11, 2001. March 6, 2002, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey; Kevin Flynn and Jim Dwyer, "Officers' Sept. 11 Accounts."
[49] John Murphy to Timothy Norris, memorandum regarding September 11, 2001. January 4, 2002, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
[50] Ethan Casey (Editor), 09/11 8:48 a.m.: Documenting America's Greatest Tragedy. Charleston, SC: BookSurge.com, 2001, p. 156; Roman Milisic, "'Everything Went Black.'" Salon, September 12, 2001; "We Were There: Catholic Priests and How They Responded, in Their Own Words." United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, August 29, 2003, p. 15.
[51] N. R. Kleinfield, "Hijacked Jets Destroy Twin Towers and Hit Pentagon in Day of Terror." New York Times, September 12, 2001.
[52] James Glanz, "Engineers Suspect Diesel Fuel in Collapse of 7 World Trade Center." New York Times, November 29, 2001.
[53] "The Brotherhood Now." Newsweek, September 9, 2002.
[54] Therese McAllister (Editor), World Trade Center Building Performance Study: Data Collection, Preliminary Observations, and Recommendations. Washington, DC: Federal Emergency Management Agency, 2002, pp. A9-A10; "First Interstate Bank Fire: 25 Years Later." FirefighterNation.com, May 4, 2013; Ted Walter, Beyond Misinformation: What Science Says About the Destruction of World Trade Center Buildings 1, 2, and 7. Berkeley, CA: Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth, 2015, p. 6.
[55] Cathleen Decker and Jill Stewart, "Blaze Races Through Tallest LA Skyscraper." Los Angeles Times, May 5, 1988; Robert Welkos, "Tower May Have Escaped Serious Structural Damage." Los Angeles Times, May 6, 1988.
[56] Scott Holliday, "High-Rise Fire Disasters: When Will We Learn Our Lesson?" Fire Engineering, April 2004; Ted Walter, Beyond Misinformation, p. 6.
[57] Therese McAllister (Editor), World Trade Center Building Performance Study, p. A9; Jesse Beitel and Nestor *, Analysis of Needs and Existing Capabilities for Full-Scale Fire Resistance Testing. Gaithersburg, MD: National Institute of Standards and Technology, 2008, p. 18; Christopher Naum, "Remembering the One Meridian Plaza High-Rise Fire." CommandSafety.com, October 21, 2009.
[58] Reid Kanaley, "Last Scorched Story: The 22d Floor at One Meridian Plaza is Dismantled." Philadelphia Inquirer, April 3, 1999.
[59] Therese McAllister (Editor), World Trade Center Building Performance Study, p. A10.
[60] Jesse Beitel and Nestor *, Analysis of Needs and Existing Capabilities for Full-Scale Fire Resistance Testing, p. 18.
[61] W. Robert Powers, "Fire up Above!" WPI Journal, August 1975; Fire Safety Aspects of Polymeric Materials, Volume 7: Buildings. Washington, DC: National Academy of Sciences, 1979, p. 135; Erica D. Kuligowski, David D. Evans, and Richard D. Peacock, Post-Construction Fires Prior to September 11, 2001. Gaithersburg, MD: National Institute of Standards and Technology, 2005, p. 1.
[62] "Trade Center Hit by 6-Floor Fire." New York Times, February 14, 1975; James Glanz and Eric Lipton, City in the Sky: The Rise and Fall of the World Trade Center. New York: Times Books, 2003, p. 214.
[63] W. Robert Powers, "Fire up Above!"
[64] "Trade Center Hit by 6-Floor Fire"; James Glanz and Eric Lipton, City in the Sky, p. 214.
[65] W. Robert Powers, "Fire up Above"; Erica D. Kuligowski, David D. Evans, and Richard D. Peacock, Post-Construction Fires Prior to September 11, 2001, p. 1.
[66] W. Robert Powers, "Fire up Above"; Fire Safety Aspects of Polymeric Materials, Volume 7: Buildings, pp. 135-136.
[67] James Glanz and Eric Lipton, "The Height of Ambition: Part Six." New York Times, September 8, 2002.
[68] James Glanz and Eric Lipton, City in the Sky, pp. 131-132; Fahim Sadek, Baseline Structural Performance and Aircraft Impact Damage Analysis of the World Trade Center Towers. Gaithersburg, MD: National Institute of Standards and Technology, 2005, p. 4.
[69] James Glanz and Eric Lipton, City in the Sky, p. 133.
[70] James Glanz and Eric Lipton, "The Height of Ambition." New York Times, September 8, 2002; James Glanz and Eric Lipton, City in the Sky, pp. 138-139, 366.
[71] "707 Specifications." Boeing, 2000; "Technical Characteristics: Boeing 767-200ER." Boeing, 2002.
[72] Final Report on the Collapse of the World Trade Center Towers. Gaithersburg, MD: National Institute of Standards and Technology, 2005, pp. 20, 38.
[73] Eric Nalder, "Twin Towers Engineered to Withstand Jet Collision." Seattle Times, February 27, 1993.
[74] "Towers Were Symbol of Might." Chicago Tribune, September 11, 2001; "Towers' Quick Collapse Surprises Engineers." Knight Ridder, September 12, 2001.
[75] World Trade Center: In Memoriam. History Channel, 2002; Jim Dwyer and Kevin Flynn, 102 Minutes, p. 149.
[76] Hendrik Hertzberg, "Tuesday, and After." New Yorker, September 24, 2001.
[77] Damon DiMarco, Tower Stories: An Oral History of 9/11. Santa Monica, CA: Santa Monica Press, 2007, p. 350.
[78] Hendrik Hertzberg, "Tuesday, and After."
[79] Joseph A. Gambardello, "Frank De Martini, Towers' Construction Manager." Philadelphia Inquirer, October 9, 2001.
[80] James Glanz, "Comparing 2 Sets of Twin Towers." New York Times, October 23, 2002; "WTC 1988 Charlie Thornton Interview." YouTube video, 0:50. December 17, 2007.
[81] John Peruggia, interview by Ron Castorina and Tom McCourt; Jim Dwyer and Kevin Flynn, 102 Minutes, p. 203.
[82] Joseph Poland to Ed Gutch, memorandum regarding September 11, 2001; Kevin Flynn and Jim Dwyer, "Officers' Sept. 11 Accounts."
[83] "Twin Towers 'Built to Withstand Plane Crash.'" Daily Telegraph, September 11, 2001.
[84] "Towers' Quick Collapse Surprises Engineers."
[85] Sara Peters, "Engineers Search for Answers in Rubble of Collapsed World Trade Towers." EQuad News, Fall 2001.
[86] Ibid.
[87] Blair Kamin, "Damage too Great for Towers." Chicago Tribune, September 11, 2001.
[88] Eric Uhlfelder and William Abrams, "The World Trade Center: Work of Genius, Undone by the Unthinkable." New Jersey Star-Ledger, September 10, 2011.
[89] "America Rebuilds: A Year at Ground Zero, Richard Garlock Transcript." PBS, 2002.
[90] Alex Fryer, "Collapse of Twin Towers Still Haunting Engineer Whose Firm Did Design." Seattle Times, September 12, 2002.
[91] James Glanz with Michael Moss, "Faulty Fireproofing is Reviewed as Factor in Trade Center Collapse." New York Times, December 13, 2001; Roger G. Morse, "'Fireproofing' at the WTC Towers." Fire Engineering, October 2002.
[92] "The Collapse: An Engineer's Perspective." PBS, April 30, 2002.
[93] John Seabrook, "The Tower Builder."
[94] "Federal Building and Fire Safety Investigation of the World Trade Center Disaster, Part IV: Life Safety." National Institute of Standards and Technology, April 5, 2005.
[95] J. Randall Lawson and Robert L. Vettori, The Emergency Response Operations, p. 75.
[96] 9/11 Commission, The 9/11 Commission Report, pp. 290-291, 302.
[97] Pete Guidetti, interview by Kevin McAllister.
[98] Robert Ingram, interview by Robert Burns. World Trade Center Task Force, December 7, 2001; Robert Ingram, "Special Operations and Haz Mat." Fire Engineering, September 2002.
[99] Mike Wereschagin, "Fire Commissioner Survives Ground Zero." Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, September 11, 2006; Andy O'Brien, "Former NYC Fire Dept. Deputy Commissioner Recalls Events of 9/11." Rockland Free Press, October 15, 2015.
[100] Christopher Ketcham, "September 11, Through the Eyes of New York City Firefighter Timmy Burke." Gear, December 2001.
[101] Al Baker and James Glanz, "For 911 Operators, Sept. 11 Went Beyond All Training." New York Times, April 1, 2006.
[102] Billy Hallowell, "Courageous 9/11 Firefighter Describes Miraculously Surviving the Twin Towers' Collapse."
[103] Chris Stewart and Tim Tresslar, "Retired New York Firefighter Honors 9/11 Victims With Patriot Flag at Dayton Festival." Dayton Daily News, May 31, 2011.
[104] Will G. Merrill Jr., 9/11 Ordinary People, pp. 80-81.
[105] Richard Zarrillo, interview by Ron Castorina and Tom McCourt; Jim Dwyer and Kevin Flynn, 102 Minutes, p. 208.
[106] "At IAFF Headquarters, Patriot Flag Flies in Honor of Those Who Died on September 11." IAFF Firefighters, August 22, 2011.
[107] Clifford Davis, "9/11 Firefighter Who Survived Attack Tells Jacksonville Students to Embrace Life's Challenges."
[108] Josh Wartena, "9/11 Firefighter Admonishes Students to be Heroes." UVU Review, September 17, 2012.
[109] "OEW Talks to Surviving 9/11 Firefighter"; Clifford Davis, "9/11 Firefighter Who Survived Attack Tells Jacksonville Students to Embrace Life's Challenges."
[110] Cheryl Wetzstein, "Towers Leveled by Gravity, Fire."
[111] Guy Gugliotta, "'Magnitude Beyond Anything We'd Seen Before.'" Washington Post, September 12, 2001; James Glanz and Eric Lipton, "The Height of Ambition: Part One." New York Times, September 8, 2002.
[112] "About the NIST World Trade Center Investigation." National Institute of Standards and Technology, June 30, 2011.
[113] John Seabrook, "The Tower Builder"; Rebecca Webber, "Department of Buildings." Gotham Gazette, February 18, 2002; "About the Buildings Department." New York City Department of Buildings, 2005.
[114] J. Mark Loizeaux and Douglas K. Loizeaux, "Demolition by Implosion." Scientific American, October 1995; Jeff Byles, Rubble: Unearthing the History of Demolition. New York: Harmony Books, 2005, p. 95.
[115] Liz Else, "Baltimore Blasters."
[116] Pete Guidetti, interview by Kevin McAllister; Evan Thomas, "The Day That Changed America."
[117] Liset Marquez, "Upland Firefighters and Families Affected by 9/11 Tragedy." Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, September 7, 2006; Michael Antonucci, "The Bravest Man I Ever Knew." National Disaster Search Dog Foundation Remembrance Journal, September 2011.
[118] Elizabeth Moore, "A Legend's Family Keeps Hope for Him Alive." Newsday, September 13, 2001.
[119] Liset Marquez, "Upland Firefighters and Families Affected by 9/11 Tragedy."
[120] U.S. Congress. Senate. Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Statement of Robert Ingram, Battalion Chief, City of New York Fire Department. 107th Cong., 1st sess., October 11, 2001.
[121] Joe Calderone, "FDNY Boss Warned of Collapse."
[122] Eric Darton, Divided We Stand: A Biography of New York's World Trade Center. New York: Basic Books, 1999, pp. 194-195.
[123] Committee for Oversight and Assessment of Blast-Effects and Related Research et al., Blast Mitigation for Structures: 1999 Status Report on the DTRA/TSWG Program. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 2000, p. 43.
[124] Tom Downey, The Last Men Out, pp. 222-223.
[125] Elizabeth Moore, "A Legend's Family Keeps Hope for Him Alive."
[126] Richard Goldstein, "Raymond M. Downey Dies at 63, Headed Fire Rescue Units." New York Times, November 22, 2001; "Deputy Chief Ray Downey and Lieutenant Andy Fredericks ... As We Remember Them." Fire Engineering, March 2002.
[127] Elizabeth Moore, "A Legend's Family Keeps Hope for Him Alive."
[128] Michael Daly, "Magnificent Fire Chief's Last Call to Duty." New York Daily News, September 13, 2001.
[129] Committee for Oversight and Assessment of Blast-Effects and Related Research et al., Blast Mitigation for Structures, p. 43.
[130] Cheryl Wetzstein, "Towers Leveled by Gravity, Fire."
[131] "Q&A: The Collapse of Tower 7." BBC News, July 4, 2008.
[132] J. Mark Loizeaux and Douglas K. Loizeaux, "Demolition by Implosion."
[133] Bill Hewitt, "Sudden Impact." People, November 9, 1998; Lynne Tuohy, "Razing Expectations." Hartford Courant, January 27, 2001; "J. L. Hudson Department Store." Controlled Demolition Inc., n.d.
[134] Eric Nalder, "Twin Towers Engineered to Withstand Jet Collision."
[135] Liz Else, "Baltimore Blasters."
[136] U.S. Congress. House. Committee on National Security. Witness Statement, Chief Raymond M. Downey, Special Operations Command, Fire Department, City of New York. 105th Cong., 2nd sess., March 21, 1998; Richard Goldstein, "Raymond M. Downey Dies at 63, Headed Fire Rescue Units"; "Deputy Chief Ray Downey and Lieutenant Andy Fredericks ... As We Remember Them."
[137] "Elite NY Team Finally Lands in Stricken Haiti." Associated Press, January 16, 2010.
[138] Liset Marquez, "Upland Firefighters and Families Affected by 9/11 Tragedy."
[139] "At IAFF Headquarters, Patriot Flag Flies in Honor of Those Who Died on September 11."
[140] Billy Hallowell, "Courageous 9/11 Firefighter Describes Miraculously Surviving the Twin Towers' Collapse"; Clifford Davis, "9/11 Firefighter Who Survived Attack Tells Jacksonville Students to Embrace Life's Challenges."
[141] Mike Wereschagin, "Buried in the Rubble"; "OEW Talks to Surviving 9/11 Firefighter."
[142] Jim Dwyer and Kevin Flynn, 102 Minutes, pp. 78, 277.
[143] "World Trade Center Heroes Urge Minorities and Women to Consider Careers With the Port Authority Police."
[144] "September 11th, 2001, Special Awards Program Nomination Form: Police Captain Anthony Whitaker." Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, n.d.
[145] Peter Lance, 1,000 Years for Revenge: International Terrorism and the FBI, the Untold Story. New York: Regan Books, 2003, p. 385; Claire E. White, "1,000 Years for Revenge: A Conversation With Peter Lance." Internet Writing Journal, October 2003.
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