9/11...The Tragic Story of the Day that Changed America: The Terror, The Horror and The Heroes by Dean King

Author:Dean King [King, Dean]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2012-03-05T04:30:00+00:00

On September 11, companies and chiefs that responded to fires used analog, point-to-point radios. One disadvantage of point-to-point radios was that they have weak signals and could only be heard by personnel in the immediate vicinity.

Office of Emergency Management (OEM) and Interagency Preparedness

The Mayor’s OEM was created in 1996 by Mayor Rudolph Guiliani. Primarily, its function was to monitor the city’s major communication channels and other data. A secondary purpose of OEM was to improve the city’s response to major incidents through planning and conducting exercises and drills. Lastly, the OEM was responsible for managing New York City’s overall response to an incident.

Rescue Operations

On September 11, just minutes after Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower, the city’s 911 system was overwhelmed with eyewitness accounts. But it was not clear when the first building evacuation order was sent through the public-address system. The deputy fire safety director stationed in the lobby gave instructions for full evacuation 10 minutes after the explosion. He also immediately announced that all tenants must descend to points of safety, meaning at least two or three floors below the smoke or fire.

Unfortunately, the public-address system was partially damaged by the impact of the plane, and the announcement for full evacuation did not reach all locations. But civilians were advised to stay low and remain where they are. At around 8:57, the PAPD and building personnel were advised to evacuate the South Tower as well, as it could be affected by the damage to the North Tower.

Some civilians began evacuating without waiting for further instructions over the intercom while others remained to await assistance. There were Port Authority civilian employees who remained on upper floors to aid others who were trapped.

But some civilians had difficulty reaching the exits due to damage to the floors. It was noted that some civilians jumped or fell from the building due to heat, smoke and fire.

In the South Tower, the number of casualties was low compared to the North Tower. This was primarily attributed to the fact that after the North Tower was hit, civilians and officials in the South Tower evacuated. At first the civilians were unaware of the incident. Some people thought that the incident took place in their building while others knew that the explosion occurred on the upper floors of the North Tower.

Those who had decided to leave the South Tower were thankful for their initiative to leave at the earliest possible time. Fire wardens had advised other civilians to evacuate immediately. Morgan Stanley, which occupied over 20 floors of the South Tower, asked its employees to evacuate as advised by the company security officials.

Many tenants of South Tower abandoned any thought of evacuating due to announcements saying that the South Tower was safe. The South Tower’s deputy fire safety director followed protocol and told his counterpart in the North Tower that he would await further instructions from the Fire Department regarding evacuation. At the same time, tenants were told over the public-address system that the incident took place in the North Tower and that the South Tower was safe.

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