The firefighters of 9/11: They were eating breakfast when the call came. ‘They all left’
This feature recounts the final moments of the Ladder 3 firefighting crew on September 11, 2001. It highlights the dedication of the firefighters who volunteered to respond to the World Trade Center despite their shifts having ended.
Why it matters
It provides a human-interest perspective on the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, honoring the sacrifice of first responders.
On this day 25 years ago, the Ladder 3 crew sat at the maple table, having breakfast. They had less than two hours to live. Eight in the morning is a hectic time, with the night tour crew clocking off and the morning tour unit already arrived.
Officially, the tour, or shift, hours are 9am-6pm and 6pm-9am, but Ladder 3 had an inherited tradition where the morning crew would arrive a few hours before the shift officially started. On 9/11 , that mattered. The table is quite something. It’s made from wood retrieved from a bowling alley, is scuff-marked and polished and it’s the centrepiece of the fire house.
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