Category: In The News

Feb. 25, 2023 Some of the unsung heroes of the “other” attack on New York’s World Trade Center share their memories of that horrific day.

By Steven Shaw Source officer.com News

When someone mentions the attack on New York’s World Trade Center (WTC), thoughts immediately turn to Sept. 11, 2001. The 9/11 terrorist attack killed a reported 2,753 people at the site, including 343 members of the FDNY. It was among the most tragic days in American history. It was a day to “Never Forget!”

But, when discussing the attack on the WTC, there is a large group of people who have another date that they will never forget—Feb. 26, 1993. It was on this day that the first attempt to bring down the towers occurred.

Among those who will never forget that day 30 years ago this weekend is a small group of WTC electricians who were working that day. Gregory Rodman and John Daddario were among that group.

Rodman, now the shop steward at Rockefeller Center/NBC remembers it starting out as a typical day.

“I was on the B-4 level, which is four grades below level, with Kevin Flannery and we went back to the workshop because my girlfriend (now wife) Donna had been beeping me,” Rodman recalls.

Daddario, who is now the vice president of operations for a technology service provider, was taking care of business on the B-2 level.

The explosion

A few minutes after noon, a yellow rental van filled with approximately 1,200 pounds of explosives entered the underground parking garage on the B-2 level. The driver parked it against the load-bearing south wall, just 150 feet away from where Daddario was stationed. At 12:17, the bombs detonated setting off a tremendous explosion. Fortunately for Daddario and crew, in those 150 feet were some office spaces, elevator shafts and the 1 WTC perimeter wall, which absorbed most of the blow.

“My first thought was that an electrical substation had exploded,” Daddario recalls. “But a co-worker ran out and reported that the substation, which was on B-1 was still there.”

Rodman’s thoughts also turned to the substation. “Just as we got to the shop, we heard this huge explosion,” he recalls. “Then there was this weird feeling like the floor was going up and the ceiling was coming down. It’s hard to explain, but I remember it like it was yesterday.”

Rodman and Flannery heard calls from some of the mechanical workers who had become trapped on the B-2 level. The pair rushed to help their co-workers. Moments later, Rodman felt someone grab his shoulder from behind. It was a member of the FDNY who told the pair to get out of the building ASAP. Rodman couldn’t believe how fast the FDNY response was and how well trained and professional the members were. “They were there in minutes and took total control of the situation,” he said.

Initial reports indicated an electrical transformer explosion had occurred in the garage beneath the hotel. Firefighters would have to search through the heavy smoke and debris to find the location of the fires and determine what exactly had happened. The only thing for certain was a major explosion had occurred and that a tremendous amount of thick smoke was filling the complex.

First responders discovered that the Port Authority Police Department’s Operations Control Center on level B-1 had been heavily damaged. This was also the fire command station for Buildings 1, 2, 4 and 5. The complex’s standpipe system was damaged, and the fire alarm and public address systems were completely out of service.

As smoke began to fill the workshop, Daddario and crew took to the radios to see if everyone on the team was accounted for and okay. The supervisor ordered them to evacuate the premises. They headed to a nearby stairwell, stopping to help others along the way. The stairs took them to the concourse level just opposite the revolving doors of 1 WTC.

“Upon entering the concourse, I clearly recall looking through the glass revolving door and windows that separated the 1 WTC lobby from the concourse shopping area and seeing nothing but the entire lobby filled with thick smoke, Daddario said.

“Periodically, there were people coming through the doors with FDNY, PAPD, other PANYNJ workers helping get people outside of the complex for medical help.”

Once outside, the electricians were approached by officers from the FDNY.

“There was a decision to try and restore power to the towers to help get people that were stuck in elevators,” Daddario remembers. “In order to do that myself and two of my colleagues walked up to the top of 1 WTC, while three other colleagues walked up the stairs in 2 WTC.

“Being very familiar with the entire complex, we connected with the FDNY and escorted them up the stairs so they could assist office workers who were stuck in the smoke-filled towers. There was a coordinated effort with supervision below to systematically restore power to each tower, which assisted the FDNY with evacuations.”

“There was so much smoke,” Rodman recalls. “Even with my flashlight I could not see a foot in front of me. I don’t know how we made it.” While the electricians made their way up the 110-story buildings, the first responders were faced with a massive search-and-rescue operation.  

The rescues

An already intense rescue effort became even more complex a few minutes later. On a ramp leading to the underground garage, Firefighter Kevin Shea of Rescue Company 1 was moving toward the sounds of voices calling for help when a piece of the concrete floor gave way beneath him. Shea plummeted more than 30 feet.

Moments after Shea’s fall, Battalion Chief Richard Rewkowski, who had been supervising several engine companies stretching a line from the hotel to the fire area, heard the mayday on his radio. When they found the hole where Shea had fallen through, Rewkowski said, “It was like looking into the crater of a smoking volcano.”

Eventually, Lt. John Fox was lowered by a life-saving rope into the crater in hopes of finding Shea. After what seemed like a lifetime, the officer radioed back. He found Shea. It appeared as if Shea had several injuries but was in fairly good shape. Other teams of firefighters converged on Shea from different directions. He was treated, placed in a Stokes basket and moved up to street level before being transported to a hospital with a broken kneecap, stress fractures in both feet and a broken nose.

While this was happening, another group of first responders followed the sound of muffled voices to a pile of metal lockers and concrete debris. They dug frantically and uncovered an elevator pit containing 16 trapped workers who had been blown into the shaft by the initial blast. The injured were quickly removed. Several dramatic rescues were made of individuals trapped on isolated sections of concrete hanging above the gigantic crater.

The aftermath

The general evacuation of WTC tenants took more than four hours. Rescuers checked more than 200 elevator cars—freeing trapped people from 45 of them—and searched each floor of the World Trade Center complex, more than 8 million sq. ft. of space.

Rodman, Daddario and crews got power back on that night, but they lost six of eight feeders, so they had no heat. The electricians worked 12-hour shifts around the clock for months restoring the fire alarms and fixing various other issues. Amazingly, they had Cantor Fitzgerald, whose corporate headquarters took up the 101^st to 105^th floors of the WTC, up and running that Monday, just three days after the bombing. (Cantor Fitzgerald would heartbreaking lose all 658 employees who showed up for work on 9/11.)

The FDNY response turned into the largest movement of apparatus to date in the history of the department. During the initial 24 hours of operations, there were 135 responding FDNY companies with approximately 775 uniformed members on scene. The equivalent of 23 alarms were called.

In all, six civilians were killed and more than 1,000 were injured (mainly smoke related), with more than 450 of those treated at hospitals. More than 100 members of the department were injured while operating with five of those members being admitted to the hospital. Thirty-five police officers and one EMS worker also were reported injured. Ten members of the fire department were awarded medals of valor for operations at the World Trade Center and 25 companies were awarded unit citations for their rescue efforts.

The next day, Rodman and co-workers Mike Catuogno and Fred Guarino were retracing some of their steps and realized how perilously close they came to disaster. The blast had created a five-story, 150-foot-wide crater, filled with 4,000 tons of rubble, in the sub-grade levels of the towers and undermined the floor of an adjoining hotel.

“We had walked right past this giant hole in the floor without being able to see,” Rodman said. ‘I don’t know how we didn’t fall through it.”

Between not falling through that hole and not being in the locker room, which was destroyed by the blast, Rodman feels very fortunate to still be here.

“I’ve heard so many stories of people surviving because they were not where they would usually be…I guess we owe it to fate!”

After 30 years, Daddario says he remembers almost every minute of that horrific day.

“I personally knew four of the six people who lost their lives,” he says. “I’ll never forget them.”

There were many heroes that day. The FDNY responded quickly, efficiently and heroically, performing many rescues and saving many lives. But the Local 3 electricians at the World Trade Center were clearly heroes as well.

On this 30^th anniversary, we salute them and we remember six victims who lost their lives that day: John DiGiovanni, Robert Kirkpatrick, Stephen A. Knapp, William Macko, Wilfredo Mercado and Monica Rodriguez Smith, who was pregnant when she was killed. Their names are now forever inscribed in bronze on the 9/11 Memorial.

Feb. 25, 2023 Flint Apparatus Operator Ricky Hill Jr. collapsed at the scene of a mobile home fire.

Source Firehouse.com News

A Flint firefighter collapsed and died on the scene of a trailer fire Saturday.

Apparatus Operator Ricky Hill Jr. received immediate help and was rushed to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.

“This is a tremendous loss for the Flint Fire Department and the entire city of Flint. I ask the Flint community to join us in lifting the family in prayer during this difficult time,” Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley told reporters.

Hill had been with the department for 16 years.

The Flint fire and police departments and Michigan State Police are investigating.

Hill was the second Michigan firefighter to die on duty in three days.

On Wednesday, Paw Paw Lt. Ethan Quillen was killed when he came into contact with a power line.

Feb. 24, 2023 A firefighter with St. Tammany Parish Fire Protection District #7 had to be extricated from the rig.

By Joni Hess Source The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate (TNS) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Feb. 22—A Pearl River firefighter who suffered multiple fractures and had to be extricated from the driver’s seat of an overturned firetruck Monday was in stable condition, authorities said Wednesday.

The man, whose name has not yet been released, was being treated for several fractures to his skull, spine, and shoulder, according to St. Tammany District 7 Fire Chief Gary Whitehead.

The driver was traveling to another station to obtain fuel and attend training when he was involved in a single-vehicle crash on Louisiana 435 near Mossy Hill Road in Abita Springs, Whitehead said.

An initial report by the Louisiana State Police said that the firefighter veered slightly off the roadway to the right before steering left. The truck went on its side, slid across the roadway and hit a tree. The firefighter was trapped the man in the driver’s side of the vehicle, according to Whitehead.

The driver was extricated from the truck and airlifted to University Medical Center in New Orleans.

It’s unclear why the driver veered off the road, but Whitehead said any departure off of that highway can be a problem because the road “doesn’t have much of a shoulder.”

Feb. 24, 2023 Webster, MA, Firefighter Paul Cloutier, 52, was found dead in his truck.

A Webster firefighter was found dead in his truck Wednesday.

Firefighter Paul Cloutier, 52, was apparently getting ready to respond to a water rescue on Tuesday when he was stricken, the U.S. Fire Administration reported.

He had been with the department for two years. He also was a volunteer with Muddy Brook Fire Department in Woodstock, CT where he resided. 

The cause of death is pending. 

Feb. 24, 2023 Dr. Leonard Cobb’s program to send firefighters with cardiac equipment on serious calls was called radical.

By Elise Takahama Source The Seattle Times (TNS) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Feb. 24—It’s difficult to pinpoint how Dr. Leonard Cobb came up with the idea to train firefighters in emergency medical care, but friends and family believe one particular afternoon more than 60 years ago played a role.

Cobb and his wife, Else, had stopped at a market in Seattle’s Madrona neighborhood for a frozen snack when they noticed a man slumped over in a nearby car.

When Cobb opened the car door to check on him, the man sagged to the ground.

Cobb stayed with the man while his wife rushed to a nearby fire station for help. A firefighter hurried over to bring oxygen, but there wasn’t much else he could do until the man was taken to the hospital, Else Cobb, 88, remembers.

“It was an incident where Leonard felt the fireman could have done more if he had known what to do,” his wife said this week.

In the following decades, Cobb devoted his career to researching cardiac care and developing Medic One, one of the country’s first efforts to deliver emergency medical care to patients before they arrived at the hospital. He was 96 when he died in his home at the Terraces of Skyline last week, surrounded by family.

The former Harborview Medical Center doctor was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1926, eventually earning undergraduate and medical degrees at the University of Minnesota.

In the late 1950s, Cobb moved to Seattle to practice cardiology at the University of Washington — where he eventually met his future wife, Else Snoep at the time.

Their first date, a UW football game, was the first time she had seen the sport.

“I’m a Dutch girl, and I grew up with soccer,” she said. “I told him that maybe he should take someone else because I wouldn’t know what was going on. He said, ‘I’ll explain it all to you.’”

Cobb was already passionate about improving areas of cardiology in the 1960s, but was particularly determined to find faster ways to get care to patients outside the hospital, said Dr. Michael Sayre, current medical director of the Seattle Fire Department and its Medic One program, which now responds to about 550 calls a year.

At the time, the idea of firefighters providing serious medical care was “pretty radical,” Sayre said.

Paramedics didn’t exist then, and extensive medical training wasn’t required for many ambulance crews. Ambulances were stocked with bandages and oxygen, but little else, he said.

Cobb wasn’t alone in his thinking. Because new research and technology on emergency medicine was emerging from Europe in the late 1960s — particularly the use of mobile defibrillators — several physicians in the United States were also brainstorming ways to speed up care in life-or-death situations.

Cobb knew there weren’t enough doctors and nurses to deploy to every emergency medical call, Sayre said, but firefighters were already well dispersed throughout the city and could get places quickly.

He teamed up with Seattle’s fire chief, Gordon Vickery, to map out a pilot training program for firefighters and secure federal grant funding. In 1970, the city launched its initial version of the program, which trained firefighters and equipped “aid cars” for the first time with portable electrocardiogram units that read heart activity, pacemakers, resuscitators and defibrillators, in addition to standard first-aid equipment, according to The Seattle Times archives.

The program planned to dispatch the mobile unit — which initially consisted of two firefighters and a doctor — to heart-attack calls if the patient could be reached within five minutes, The Times reported.

About a year later, follow-up coverage reported Medic One had already responded to more than 600 calls, including to 16 patients who were revived after being found “clinically dead,” Cobb said in an interview at the time. Popularity of the program was growing and things were going smoothly.

Then, in late 1970, federal cutbacks whittled down the program’s grant and nearly put Medic One out of business. But Cobb and Vickery organized a fundraising drive — which yielded an “extraordinary response,” archives say.

“The community stepped up,” Sayre said, referencing bake sales and door-to-door efforts. “They needed to raise about $100,000 and they raised $200,000.”

The Seattle Fire Department eventually incorporated Medic One into its system for good. The idea has popped up in other parts of the country since then — but all of Washington’s Medic One and EMS systems are modeled after Cobb’s initial program, Sayre added.

In 1972, Cobb’s and Vickery’s Medic Two, which aimed to also train community members in CPR, came along. To date, more than a million members of the public have gone through the program, according to the Seattle Fire Department.

“We continue to see how important that is,” Sayre said. “People who get CPR started by a member of the public are twice as likely to survive. … It has to happen quickly, or it’s impossible for your heart to restart.”

He continued, “Now, millions of people learn this skill in high school. But that was a novel idea in Seattle at the time.”

In 2008, Cobb also helped introduce the city’s Resuscitation Academy, which trains EMTs to further improve outcomes for cardiac arrest patients.

Former colleagues remember Cobb as a hands-on leader with a relentless work ethic and constant desire to improve his programs, Sayre said. He even continued working on research up until two years ago, according to John Cobb, his younger son.

“He was forever writing papers on hospital medical care,” Else Cobb added. “Forever looking for better outcomes.”

Now, Seattle is “renowned for one of the finest EMS systems in the country,” according to the volunteer-led National EMS Museum, which documents the history of emergency medical response in the U.S.

Sayre, who knew Cobb for nearly 20 years, said he’ll never forget his mentor’s humility.

“That really made him a great leader,” he said.

But outside of medicine, Cobb’s top priority was his family.

Son John Cobb, 58, especially has fond memories spending summers at their cabin on the Oregon coast, playing bocce ball on the beach and crabbing on the Nehalem River.

When Cobb died, he opted to end his life through Washington state’s Death with Dignity Act, which allows terminally ill adults to request lethal doses of medication.

“His mind was all there, but unfortunately, his body was giving out,” John Cobb said. “He had lost his eyesight. He couldn’t walk. For him, he knew it wasn’t the type of life he wanted to live any longer.”

The day before Cobb died, he spent time with his family and longtime Medic One friends. The next morning was peaceful, his son said.

“In his last minutes, his grandson read one of the poems that had been written for him [by a family member],” John Cobb said. “Those were the last words he heard as he fell asleep. It was a wonderful moment.”

Cobb is survived by his two sons, Eric and John; his wife, Else; and five grandchildren, Alex, Pate, Lindsay, Miles and Owen.

A public memorial ceremony, organized by the Seattle Fire Department and UW Medicine, is in the works. His family has asked that contributions in his memory be made to the Medic One Foundation at 11747 N.E. First St., Unit #310, Bellevue, WA, 98005.