Tape of Firefighters' Transmissions on September 11th
Thursday, November 21, 2002
Clip 1 (1 minute 51 seconds, recorded around 9:06AM)
Various squads and battalions try to establish communication. Battalion 7 Fire
Chief Orio Palmer and Batallion 1 Fire Chief, who has been identified in reports
as Joseph Pfeifer, plan to use a car repeater as a system of communication and
they decide which channel to use.
Clip 2 (15 seconds, recorded around 9:22AM)
Fire Chief Palmer is asked where he wants to send the Emergency Service Unit
police officers. From this cut there appears to be no direct chain of command
between the Fire Dept and the Police Department.
Clip 3 (1 minute 6 seconds, recorded around 9:30AM)
Firefighters trying to establish which elevators terminate below the 76th floor.
Confusion arises about which tower they are in. 15 is Ladder Company 15. OV
is the Outside Vent, a firefighter position. Seven-alpha is the aide to Orio
Palmer who is the Battalion 7 Fire Chief. Field Com is the Field Communications
Center that would be located outside the tower.
Clip 4 (45 seconds, recorded around 9:50AM)
Firefighters trying to get information to the lobby command post in order to
send help to the injured on the 70th and 40th floors. This may be Lt. Joseph
G. Leavey issuing the imperative to Tommy who is the 15 OV, the outside vent
firefighter from Ladder 15. It appears that Leavey plans to use the 40th floor
as a triage.
Clip 5 (39 seconds, recorded around 9:56AM)
Firefighters calmly discuss being trapped in the stairway on the 78th floor
and having to put out or "knock down" some fire in order to continue
to meet Chief Palmer. 15 Roof is a firefighter position from Ladder 15. There
are a few voices heard on this clip, among them Lt. Joseph G. Leavey. It appears
that there is water available at the 78th floor from the tower's water system
and the firefighters sound confident they can put out the fire they have encountered.
Full Tape (51 minutes)
The government released this audio tape of fire department transmissions from
September 11th. The tape was found in the rubble by Port Authority police officers.
The tape's existence was first reported in the New York Times in June. The transmissions
on the tape show the trouble with communications and confusion about the line
of command. But the tape also clearly shows the selflessness and professionalism
of the firefighters who rode and climbed as high as the 78th floor.
Comments [1]
I am trying to listen to the transmissions of the firefighters on 9-11, but clicking on "listen" just brings me to a "page not found." Can you please redirect me?
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