The 9/11 attacks will be remembered as one of the most traumatic and terrible times in the history of the USA. The day was September 11th, 2001. On this day 19 men who were part of the terrorist extremist group al-Qaeda embarked on a mission of terror. They hijacked four airplanes and used these airplanes to wreak havoc and go on suicide missions against the United States of America. Two of the planes were sent to crash into the World Trade Center in New York City. One plane was sent to crash into the Pentagon, which was just outside of Washington D.C. The fourth plane ended up crashing into a field in Pennsylvania due to the efforts of the passengers within that plane. During these terrorist attacks almost 3,000 people ended up losing their lives. The 9/11 terrorist attacks sparked major initiatives from the Unites States to combat terrorism in the middle east1.
It was 8:45 a.m., Tuesday morning. The day was September 11th, and business was going on as usual at the World Trade Center in New York City. Suddenly, a Boeing 767, ladened down with 20,000 gallons of jet fuel flew straight into the side of the north tower of the World Trade Center. Initially the Boeing 767 left a massive, burning hole in the side of the 110-story skyscraper. There were many deaths as hundreds of people instantly lost their lives, it also left hundred more at risk to lose their lives as they were trapped in the story’s above2. The Fire Service was heroic that day as they rushed to the World Trade Center and began to evacuate the Tower and assist those who needed medical assistance. Television cameras wielded by reporters started broadcasting live movies of the tragedy, which was initially
thought to be some sort of accident or mistake. It was only a Meer 18 minutes after the first Boeing 767 flown by a al-Quade terrorist hit the North tower, that the second Boeing 767, came speeding into the New York Airways and dove into the south World Trade Center tower. This crash was very similar to the first. Hundreds of Americans instantly lost their lives, and hundred more were put at risk as the tower were both up in flames and debris rained down onto the streets below. The reporters and bystanders soon realized that this wasn’t an accident. This was a direct attack on the soil of the United States of America. Within 15 minutes after the pentagon was struck by the third plane, the tragedy in New York took a turn for the worst. The World Trade Center Towers were both engulfed in a blazing flame and their structures were critically weakened by the planes crashing into their sides. The South tower shook, then collapsed in a huge column of smoke and dust. The steel that was held up the structure of the tower was built to withstand heat generated by a normal fire, not to withstand the heat generated by jet fuel. Next, the North tower collapsed. When these towers collapsed there were only six people who were left inside the buildings. This was due to the extreme effort and heroism shown by the Fire Service of New York, and their selfless approach to rescue the innocent people trapped in the burning structures. Almost 10,000 people were treated for injuries that day and the death toll was tremendous. At the World Trade Center that day, 2,763 people died2. These numbers include the 343 firefighters and paramedics who lost their life, as well as 37 Port Authority’s and 23 Police Officers.
The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center not only changed the ideological values of the American people, but it also changed the ideological values that the Fire Service and the Police Department held. Before the 9/11 attacks the Fire Service was educated on a variety of terrorism-related training. The shift to immersive training took place only after the United States realized that massive attacks could be carried out on American Soil. John Donnelly Sr, the Assistant Fire Chief at Washington DC Fire & EMS said, “It’s not fair to say terrorism started on 9/11. We were thinking about this before 9/11, but it wasn’t fire-department-wide3”. In response to these new threats presented by the terrorist attacks, Firefighters in Washington D.C have been trained on things that previously had only been taught to specialists. They have been trained on how to recognize and deal with homemade explosives. They have training that also deals with biological and radioactive situations.
After the 9/11 attacks all the firetrucks used by the Washington Fire Department are equipped with a standard radioactive detection system. This is designed to let the Firemen know if an area is safe to go into and would help with a reduction of danger that they have to experience. With the ideological shift that came with the terror attacks, there also came a shift in communication between fire departments, as well as differing branches of first responders. The old system of communication was very localized to specific departments in specific areas. With a need for more widespread communication, these first responders created a modernized communication network. In Northern Virginia all 31 police and sheriff departments rid of the old radio calls, which were specific to their towns, and adopted the same code for all the departments. Timothy Lowenberg, major general, who directs Washington state’s homeland security programs stated, “Post-9/11, there’s far less of a sense of bravado and a greater awareness of the need to collectively plan, train and prepare to handle complex situations — a sense of community in which everyone contributes to a favorable outcome4”. The 9/11 attacks were some of the darkest and most difficult times faced by the American people, as well as the Fire Services. It changed the way the Fire services responded to threats and communicated with each other, but it also united those who served and gave passion to those who wished to serve.