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WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. -- Not a cloud dotted the blue sky on Sept. 11, 2001 when two planes crashed into the Twin Towers and White Plains Fire Department Lt, Tim Ryan joined Westchester fire companies in Yonkers preparing to enter New York City if the need arose. By nightfall, two White Plains engines were filling in at a Bronx firehouse.
At 8:00 a.m. the regular shift ended for the North White Plains resident, but the hard work was about to begin for Ryan and the approximately 20 other White Plains firefighters who rushed to Ground Zero to offer help.
"It was a day almost like today -- a blue sky and not a cloud in the sky -- that was eerie," Ryan, said while reclining against a truck in the Mamaroneck Avenue headquarters Friday. "The fires raged, but it wasn't like a wildfire. It was all underground and smoke rose straight up out of the vents. It just seemed to just keep rising up."
A "total recall" of the Fire Department of New York sent most city firefighters back to local firehouses. Ground Zero was manned by police and volunteers, such as Ryan who put in 40 hours in three days, while federal funds and assistance were just beginning to seep in.
"It was just a daunting task," Ryan said of sifting through the crumbled towers. "I always compare it to bringing a sheet-cake to a picnic where there are ants just picking at it and biting it away little by little... I always found it eerie that we found so few bodies or body parts. We only found two or three bodies near the top of the rubble."
Although Ryan found a few artifacts, his discovery of the elevator button for the 74th floor later helped a mourning family find closure. Ryan came across a Consolidated Edison worker whose cousin, a battalion chief of the Fire Department of New York died while stationed on the 74th floor.
"I made sure his family got that," said Ryan, who has been with the White Plains Fire Department for 27 years. "It wasn't until later that radio transmissions came out showing where people where. It was hard to get closure. Some families still don't have any closure."
The outpouring from the local community was "phenomenal," according to Ryan, who was raised in White Plains.
"Within the first 24 hours they had a food station setup. They had socks, clothes, even, I remember a guy walking around saying, 'What kind of cigarettes do you smoke?' There was a guy walking around with with disposable cameras," said Ryan. "I'll never need a camera to remember. It's etched in my brain."
Although Ryan knew some who perished in the towers, he said he takes some solace in the construction of the Freedom Tower at Ground Zero.
"When they get it open, it'll be nice to see a new building that lets the world know that we'll be back and stronger than we were before," said Ryan.
Do you know anybody who helped out at Ground Zero? Are there any heroic stories you would like to share? Email thoughts to strangle@thedailywhiteplains.com.
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