Here is a note from an email acquaintance who is a NYC Fire Fighter. He has been working on site at the WTC disaster and his account is an eyewitness acoount of the aftermath.
From: "Joseph Kearney" <jmk444@earthlink.net>
To:
Subject: Re: Are you OK?
Date: Wed, 26 Sep 2001 02:07:44 -0400Yes I'm OK and I have been working at the WTC... just got back after working from 1:30 PM this afternoon until 11:30 PM this evening... we weren't releived until after 12:30 AM... that's why I'm back so late. I'm due back tomorrow at 9:30 PM - that's supposed to be 10 hours ON and 22 hours OFF.
The site is still staggering some two weeks later. The temperature at the core is still 2,000 degrees. The rubble is mainly heavy steel girders and dust (pulverized cement, sheetrock, office contents and probably people). At its core (it goes down 10 stories below grade) it is largely melting steel and burning jet fuel. That's why the pall of smoke continues to cover lower Manhattan... the fires are still burning.
As of today (Tues 9/25/01) we've found 39 of the 343 firemen lost. There are also 189 firefighters injured with 9 still hospitalized. There were 23 NYPD cops killed and 37 Port Authority cops killed as well.
I don't know how much longer we'll (the FDNY) be working down there. FEMA has already taken over the site and it's officially a crime scene. I doubt if we'll be allowed to search must past tomorrow for the missing FDNY members - the FDNY has always prided itself on never leaving a job without taking everyone out... even if a member is killed, they've always been recovered.
This time it's different. So many of the bodies have been shredded, pulverized or incinerated that recovery of everyone is just not realistic, especially amidst over 2 million tons of wreckage.
It's been a nightmare two weeks and the rest of the year ahead looks pretty grim too. Losing 350 members isn't going to be easy to replace, and the level of knowledge and experience lost is really irreplaceable.
Thanks for thinking of me [...]