A First Responder’s First-Hand Experience

September 11, a day that will live in infamy.
Eugene Kelty of Whitestone, a 26-year FDNY veteran and, at the time, Company Commander for Engine Company 10 — directly across from Ground Zero — remembers it vividly.
At a company golf fund-raiser, he was off duty when he received word that the Towers had been hit.
He, along with his brother James, at the time a supervising Fire Marshal for Manhattan, responded immediately. Arriving on the scene, the brothers were given a briefing and began assessing the situation.
Not long after, according to Kelty, “We heard the rumble, and it was Tower 2 collapsing. I could look out the windows of the fire house, and all I saw was a giant [dust] cloud moving down the block.”
Kelty and his team began evacuating the fire house, and proceeded to aid a victim at the Deutsche Bank.
He was still searching for people when he heard the “rumble of Tower 1 coming down…I took cover in the [fire house] kitchen.”
After the Towers had fallen, Kelty continued his search for “surface victims” to rescue.
“The whole area was covered with gray ash from the debris that came down,” he said.
Eventually, he came across members of the first battalion, and the crew began running lines and pumping water in the area in an effort to extinguish fires that had spread to surrounding buildings, including the Federal Building.
“That’s where we spent most of the day,…just trying to attack fires, put out whatever we could put out in the area.
“And 7 World Trade was burning up at the time…there was concern. The fire at 7 World Trade was working its way from the front of the building northbound to the back of the building. With 7 World Trade Center collapsing, you had to be careful, because Con Edison has big transformers in the back that supplied the lower half of Manhattan.”
After having battled through smoke and debris with no face mask, Kelty had his eyes treated and returned to work.
At that point, Engine 10’s headquarters had become a triage station and focal point.
“The fire house operated for nearly one month without having the guys leave,” Kelty told The Queens Courier. “After that, they received medical attention and underwent counseling.
“The distress of the guys seeing this left a mark on them. It was very depressing because we worked [search and rescue] day after day but it didn’t seem like anything changed.”
All in all, Engine 10 lost two officers, three fire fighters, and one retired officer as a result of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.
Now, four years later, after having been promoted to Battalion Chief, the memory still haunts Kelty.
“We should never forget 9/11,” he said. “It was the worst day the fire department and the city has ever experienced. It affected so many people. “Some of the families are moving on, which is good, but they’ll never forget.”
toni@queenscourier.com