Photo Mary Lahr Cain

Mark Nelms, Debbie Poole, Timmy Stanley, Joe Fiorella, Nathan Burgess, Randy Parrish and Mark Knox (not pictured) recently sat down to offer a firefighter’s reflection on the events of 9-11. They are members of the 50-210 Fire Department in McGee’s Crossroads.

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For the men and women of the 50-210 Fire Department, the events of 9-11 are still very fresh in their memory. As the 10th anniversary of the attacks approaches, they recently took some time out to reflect.

“Anything we do professionally is driven by personal emotion,” says Nathan Burgess.

In any emergency situation of that scale, a firefighter’s first thought is of loved ones and their safety. But within moments of those thoughts, reflects Mark Knox, “we’re going out the door.”

The crew at McGee’s Crossroads had already begun gathering necessary equipment even before Emergency Operating Centers were activated county-wide. They were ready, and willing, to go to New York, Washington, D.C. or even Pennsylvania.

While self-responders were flooding the city, EOCs in our area were compiling lists of crews and equipment that were available to go if needed. The danger in heading north without a coordinated effort was that there was no way to account for the people there to help. With major military bases in Fayetteville, Jacksonville and Havelock, the threat to North Carolina was a reality that had to be considered.

The community’s fear of uncertainty may have faded over the years, but their appreciation for what all emergency response professionals do has not. It started the day of the attacks when Joe Fiorella stepped into Times Square.

He was working as an electrician in the basement of the Toys R Us building between 44th and 45th Streets. After hearing about the attacks on his radio, he exited the building to find Times Square mobbed with people watching the news on the big screens. (Think New Year’s Eve.) On any other day it would have been impossible to move that many people aside for an emergency vehicle but on this day they moved aside with the singular grace of a school of fish.

“The community’s response towards firefighters changed drastically that day,” says Mark Nelms.

People they have never met will come up and thank the firefighters for what they do. They don’t even have to be here within their own community. The response is the same wherever they go.

The 9-11 Memorial is scheduled to open on Sept. 11. It turns out that Joe Fiorella and Nathan Burgess usually go to the site every year. “It’s hard to imagine the enormity of the site until you see a 16-acre hole,” said Nathan of the area where the Memorial and Museum will occupy.

“I never ever went into that building,” says Joe Fiorella. “Walked past it, never went in though. Never looked inside the foyer.” The Empire State Building, which Joe has visited many times with his family, was famous without tragedy. The same cannot be said of the North and South Towers.

Although there are no memorials on the scale of the 9-11 Memorial here in Johnston County, the 50-210 firefighters honor all fallen heroes every day by learning from their hard work and the circumstances surrounding their deaths. How many times has Mark Knox heard the Chief say, “Know your limits, know what you’re doing and come home safe”?

Changes for fire departments

Part of the learning process is training about terrorism and recognizing weapons of mass destruction. Disaster planning and accountability of emergency personnel within the county improved. It also resulted in an improvement of the personal protective equipment firefighters across the county wear.

One of the biggest changes the firefighters have seen is the interoperability of equipment. National standards dictate that apparatuses used in Johnston County should work effectively with equipment in Wake County.

This applies to communications systems between first responders as well. As seen in the 9-11 Commission’s report, one of the chiefs present noted that “People watching on TV certainly had more knowledge of what was happening a hundred floors above us than we did in the lobby… . [W]ithout critical information coming in … it’s very difficult to make informed, critical decisions[.]”

Efforts continue today to make communications between first responders seamless. After North Carolina identified communications as the number one unmet need facing emergency responders, they developed the Voice Interoperable Plan for Emergency Responders (VIPER). The system is designed to serve North Carolina entire emergency response community regardless of discipline.

With all the advances in communications and incident management one would think that protocol would disallow self-responders.

“I couldn’t hold these guys back,” Nathan Burgess says of his crew.

Everyone agrees with Timmy Stanley. “If it would happen, we wouldn’t wait on the call,” he said. “It would be chaos. Not a lot has changed – you can’t stop someone who’s willing to help.”

Joe Fiorella recalls a retired volunteer fire fighter from his department in Long Island. Even though he was retired, he knew heavy equipment was needed and didn’t think twice about wrecking it.

“Wally’s son was down there for five days on an excavator and never left,” says Joe.

Even days after the attack, you could still see firefighters and rescue workers stepping off trains with their own equipment thrown over their shoulder.

The years have gone by, but the memory of the day of the attacks remains fresh enough to allow for healing and learning. Even though a strange powder on I-40 will no longer cause gridlock, we must remain aware- aware of the past and the sacrifices made, aware of the present and the preciousness of life and aware of the unknown and limitless possibilities of the future.

So, on this 10th Anniversary of 9-11, raise a glass with the 50-210 crew and toast the everyday heroes all around us.