Rescue and recovery effort after the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center
[1] Firefighters from the New York City Fire Department rushed to the World Trade Center minutes after the first plane struck the North Tower.
The initial response by the FDNY was on rescue and evacuation of building occupants, which involved sending firefighters up to assist people that were trapped in elevators and elsewhere.
[3] Numerous staging areas were set up near the World Trade Center, where responding fire units could report and get deployment instructions.
The repeater system in the World Trade Center, which was required for portable radio signals to transmit reliably, was malfunctioning after the impact of the planes.
[6] The FDNY also received assistance from fire departments in Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester County, and other neighboring jurisdictions, but with limited ability to manage and coordinate efforts.
On the acute side, multiple makeshift tables, each with a physician, nurse, and other health care workers, and non-emergency service volunteers, were set up for the arrival of mass casualties.
[15] Norman Mineta, Secretary of Transportation during the attacks, called the efforts "the largest maritime evacuation conducted in the United States".
Amateur radio operators established communications, maintained emergency networks, and formed bucket brigades with hundreds of other volunteer personnel.
Discovered by former U.S. Marines Jason Thomas and Dave Karnes, McLoughlin and Jimeno were pulled out alive after spending nearly 24 hours beneath 30 feet (9 m) of rubble.
[30] Rescue efforts were paused numerous times in the days after the attack because nearby buildings, including One Liberty Plaza, were in danger of collapsing.
[32] The search and rescue effort in the immediate aftermath at the World Trade Center site involved ironworkers, structural engineers, heavy machinery operators, asbestos workers, boilermakers, carpenters, cement masons, construction managers, electricians, insulators, machinists, plumbers and pipefitters, riggers, sheet metal workers, steelworkers, truckers and teamsters, American Red Cross volunteers, and many others.
Headed by then-Director Richard Sheirer, the agency was forced to vacate its headquarters, located in 7 World Trade Center, within hours of the attack.
OEM reestablished operations temporarily at the police academy, where Mayor Giuliani gave many press conferences throughout the afternoon and evening of September 11.
Beginning on September 12, the Structural Engineers Association of New York (SEAoNY) became involved in the recovery efforts, bringing in experts to review the stability of the rubble, evaluate safety of hundreds of buildings near the site, and designing support for the cranes brought in to clear the debris.
[43] "The Pile" was the term coined by the rescue workers to describe the 1.8 million tons of wreckage left from the collapse of the World Trade Center.
[46] The beam, mounted atop a platform shaped like the Pentagon, was erected outside the Shanksville's firehouse near the crash site of United Airlines Flight 93.
[47] Twenty-four tons of the steel used in construction of USS New York (LPD-21) came from the small amount of rubble from the World Trade Center preserved for posterity.
[48] In the days following the destruction of the towers, rescuers found scorch marks, likely made by a cutting torch on a basement doorway underneath 4 WTC; this was thought to be the result of looters.
[49] An armored truck operated by COMEX was also located below the World Trade Center among the other vehicles, which was fully loaded with gold and silver bars.
[33] The United States Customs Service, which was housed in 6 World Trade Center, had 1.2 million rounds of ammunition and weapons in storage in a third-floor vault, to support their firing range.
[56][57] Bush later remarked, "I'm shocked at the size of the devastation, It's hard to describe what it's like to see the gnarled steel and broken glass and twisted buildings silhouetted against the smoke.
Morale among workers was boosted by letters they received from children around the United States and the world, as well as support from thousands of neighbors in TriBeCa and other Lower Manhattan neighborhoods.
'"[62] Other notable non-profits who are "still standing" include: Immediately following the attacks, members of the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) were called up to help respond.
CAP flew aerial reconnaissance missions over Ground Zero in order to provide detailed analysis of the wreckage and aid in recovery efforts, including transportation of blood donations.
Additionally service members provided security at a variety of location throughout the city and New York State to deter further attacks and reassure the public.
Films such as 2006 docudrama World Trade Center and the 2021 documentary 9/11: One Day in America talked of two Marines who rescued two trapped police officers in the rubble.
New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health industrial hygienist David Newman said, "I was down there watching people working without respirators."
[75] The Executive Director of the National Fraternal Order of Police reportedly said of Giuliani: "Everybody likes a Churchillian kind of leader who jumps up when the ashes are still falling and takes over.
[80] Officials with the International Association of Fire Fighters have also criticized Rudy Giuliani for failing to support modernized radios that might have spared the lives of more firefighters.
[81] Estimated total costs, as of October 3, 2001[82] Plans for the World Trade Center rebuilding started in July 2002 which was headed by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation.
