Local firefighters aid search and rescue
Part of team sent to ground zero at World Trade Center in New York City.
By: Mark Moffa, Staff Writer, Messenger Press, September 27, 2001
WASHINGTON — Five days after returning from ground zero in New
York City, Lt. Kevin Brink and firefighter Jason Palmer still can't get it out
of their minds. They probably never will.
The devastation of the World Trade Center rubble in lower Manhattan
has left an indelible mark in the minds of the township firefighters, who worked
for 10 days with New Jersey Task Force-1, an urban search and rescue team
dispatched to the city immediately after two hijacked commercial jetliners
struck the Twin Towers Sept. 11.
"You just keep processing this stuff in your mind," Lt.
Brink said. "You're constantly thinking about it."
The two were called to Lakehurst Naval Air Station around 9:20 that
morning — just 20 minutes after the second plane hit the Twin Towers — to be
deployed to New York for a search and rescue mission unlike any anyone could
have imagined.
Two buses of rescue workers, and two trucks and two trailers of
equipment were sent to New York that day from Lakehurst. After setting up a camp
about 20 blocks away from the World Trade Center site, the teams went to work.
Consisting of rescue workers, commanders, hazardous material
specialists, canine units, and personnel for safety, logistics, technical
support, medical assistance, and planning, the team began to take orders from
the Federal Emergency Management Agency and New York officials.
Mr. Palmer, 24, of Pemberton, was responsible for logistics, which
includes equipment maintenance and managing the distribution of the team's
tools. Metal cutting equipment — such as torches and saws -- portable lights,
and search monitors were among the tools used by workers at the site.
Mr. Palmer, who has volunteered with Pemberton for eight years and
has worked as a paid firefighter in Washington for more than a year, also
assisted the crew in searching nearby buildings and the basements of the World
Trade Center.
Lt. Brink, 35, of East Windsor, said the search personnel dug
through areas of debris where dogs indicated human scent, or in other areas
where it was thought survivors could be found. The lieutenant has worked with
Washington for five years and also is a chief with the East Windsor Fire
Department, where he has volunteered for almost 20 years.
"We actually recovered bodies and parts, but didn't recover a
live body," he said. Much of the team's work was done in the U.S. Customs
Service building that was attached to one of the towers. Lt. Brink said customs
officials reported all their employees were accounted for, but people were
killed trying to flee the towers when they collapsed on a walkway that connected
the towers to the customs building.
Through nine days of searching, the New Jersey team recovered 20
victims, Lt. Brink said.
The firefighters described a scene in New York that at first was
chaotic, but grew more organized at time wore on.
"They (New York) lost all the upper management in the Fire
Department," Mr. Palmer said.
"For the first 48 hours things were totally out of
control," Lt. Brink added. "Everybody was wearing emergency gear so
nobody knew who was who."
He said crews eventually were required to obtain three forms of
identification — one from FEMA, one from the New York Office of Emergency
Management, and one additional permit.
Lt. Brink, illustrating the disorganization that occurred at some
points, explained what happened once when a void was found in the pile where it
was thought there could have been survivors.
First, he said, the hazardous materials personnel tested the air in
the void to see if there was enough oxygen for rescue workers, since there was
not enough room for workers to maneuver with air packs. Then, a rope system was
set up, with workers secured to each other as they crept into the space.
But while all this would be going on, a crane operator was moving
large pieces of steel 100 feet away, creating dangerous conditions for the
rescue workers.
The firefighters said the wreckage at the scene was unlike anything
conceivable and the carnage was saddening.
"You're just not going to find everybody," Lt. Brink
said. "The fires were so hot it was burning those steel beams. Everything
burns at a certain temperature. There's just too much devastation."
Mr. Palmer said after a few days there were a lot of people there
to support the workers.
"We had a lot of guys from the (New York) Fire Department
coming up to us and thanking us," he said.
"We wish we could have done more," Lt. Brink said.
"It just breaks your heart. It tears you up inside.... (But) even though we
didn't find people alive at least we were able to provide closure to some
families."