lack of panic shown by almost all civilians. Many civilians were in awe of the
firefighters and found their mere presence to be calming.
on floors, either because they still were collecting personal items or for no
apparent reason; they were told to evacuate immediately. Firefighters deputized
healthy civilians to be in charge of others who were struggling or injured.
ing levels of fatigue, some became separated from others in their unit.
of his judgment about the deteriorating condition of the building. Once the
rumor of the third plane was debunked, other chiefs continued operations, and
there is no evidence that any units actually returned to the lobby. At the same
time, a chief in the lobby was asked to consider the possibility of a rooftop res-
cue but was unable to reach FDNY dispatch by radio or phone. Out on West
Street, however, the FDNY Chief of Department had already dismissed any
rooftop rescue as impossible.
ness of FDNY radios in high-rises and because so many units on tactical 1 were
trying to communicate at once. When attempting to reach a particular unit,
chiefs in the lobby often heard nothing in response.
sky lobby on the 44th floor, and numerous units were located between the 5th
and 37th floors.
the South Tower lobby. Almost at once they were joined by an OEM field
responder.They were not, however, joined right away by a sizable number of
fire companies, as units that had been in or en route to the North Tower lobby
at 9:03 were not reallocated to the South Tower.
arrived soon thereafter, and began to rescue civilians trapped in an elevator
between the first and second floors. The senior chief in the lobby expressed
frustration about the lack of units he initially had at his disposal for South Tower
operations.