Unprecedented Mutual Aid

September 15, 2001

Chicago Fire Department

Within 72 hours of the collapse, about 50 Chicago area firefighters drove here to New York to help in the recovery and cleanup. The mutual aid request is unofficial, but welcomed by New York's bravest nonetheless.

"We've offered to sit in their firehouses, do anything for them." says Roy Hervas, 42, a volunteer firefighter with the Schaumburg (IL) Fire Department. "We came here to bring them water and towels, whatever they need us to do."

On their way to New York, the group from ChiTown was stopped doing 108 mph along the Indiana Turnpike. To the trooper's surprise, ten vehicles pulled to the side of the road, as the lead driver showed ID and explained the nature of their mission.

The Indiana trooper provided the convoy a speedy escort to the Ohio state line, where he handed off the fire-rescue responders to the Ohio State Police. The Windy City contingent didn't know it at the time, but when they'd finally arrived, they too would be called onto the frontlines. Like the others, they pulled 12-hour shifts, sifting through the debris, recovering innocent citizens and brother firefighters alike. They soon understand what it is to “work the pile.”

The unofficial Chicago Fire Department camp is set up on Chambers Street, a few blocks from Ground Zero. This team has dubbed their home away form home "Little America", an out of the way place where they can nap on cots of plastic tarpaulins, and in sleeping bags on the sidewalk. Still the air is crappy and the noise is deafening, as firefighters test power saws and cranes creak in the rubble.

"We came here to help find our brothers." Hervas adds. "And we're missing quite a few."

Los Angeles City Fire Department

Not long after the attacks, a team of twenty six Los Angeles City firefighters made their way to New York in a mission organized by Paul Sebourn, a veteran LA City fire captain who lives in San Juan Capistrano.

"We're here to pay back a debt to the FDNY members", Sebourn tells press, referring to FDNY's cross-country response during the Rodney King riots and Northridge Earthquake. Leading that New York team at that time was Battalion Chief Ray Downey, the head of FDNY's Special Operations Unit. By any fireman’s account, Ray is one of the most noted firefighters in the country. The man many referred to as the Master of Disaster is still missing in this hell.

Uptown at 54 Engine and 4 Truck, I’m surprised to learn that yellow bunker gear has replaced the traditional NY black aboard the FDNY Seagrave pumper. Even more unusual, I’m told, is the magnetic Los Angeles CITY Fire Department logo, which was positioned neatly just below the FDNY crest. Who could ever have imagined that six firefighters from West Hollywood would become the first-in crew for New York's famed Broadway district. I'm told that some 100 Los Angeles firefighters have taken vacation and personal time, paying their own way to make the trip here to Manhattan. Their actions are indicative of a brotherly calling in a profession that is always on the run.

San Francisco Fire Department

The rain that was predicted has started – a steady downpour. And it’s pretty damned cold. No one has been found alive for several days and hope is dwindling. About 1am, the remains of a rescue team of are located in a stairwell. Someone says it’s Ladder 4’s crew.

Despite the downpour, a double line of firefighters, law enforcement officers and volunteers, weaves from the recovery site atop the Pile, down through the unstable wreckage, and onto to the sidelines. I join the honor line as the flag-draped remains are carefully escorted down and into the waiting ambulance.

I pull up my fogged goggles then get a better look at the new guy on the pile. His wool work shirt is crisp and clean. Over his left breast the Maltese cross, the classic firefighter's badge, frames a red number 7. His worn, black leather helmet is familiar, but it's accented in odd red and white hand painted triangles. As he turns to address me, the frontpiece revels that he's from Ladder-7, in SAN FRANCISCO. He anticipates my question.

"We're not here officially," the Bay Area fireman is quick to answer. "We're here to help out in any way that we're needed!" He adds that a dozen other SFFD members are working here at Ground Zero, even more are helping to staff Manhattan fire stations. 3,000 miles from their first alarm district, 25 San Francisco firefighters have joined thousands of other career and volunteer firefighters, who are working this country's largest mutual aid assignment ever.

Even though San Franciscans have underwritten this mission of mercy with cash donations, the volunteers from the SFFD have opted to shoulder their own travel expenses, turning over all contributions to New York's Uniformed Firefighters Association.

"It's peer support," says John Darmanin, who serves as Director of San Francisco's Firefighter's Union, IAFF Local 798. "It is nearly impossible for FDNY members to seek emotional support from their co-workers for fear of placing a further burden on one another." It's not unusual to see a San Francisco firefighter holding an FDNY brother in his arms -- rocking him back and forth like a baby. If during their careers they ever questioned the meaning of "the brotherhood," they certainly understand it now.

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