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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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