Firefighters reflect on 9/11 search at ground zero

Two fighter jets escorted Mike McGuirk and his fellow members of FEMA rescue taskforce as they flew across the country to Ground Zero on Sept. 11, 2001.

McGuirk attended the remembrance of the attacks at the Superior Fire Hall on Friday, Sept. 11. He was not the only one in attendance who joined the rescue efforts. Mike Lally, a captain with the Superior Fire Department, was deputy chief of a rescue team from Dayton, Ohio. Both men were tasked with searching the rubble for survivors and conducting recovery work. They said that the days were so busy that the rescue workers had little time to think or feel. But then came a silent time to reflect on their work.

“After three days, you get a shower. You are in the shower and you are all alone, and then you just break down,” McGuirk said. 

McGuirk’s FEMA Task Force 7 from Sacramento,  Calif., was in the air by 2 p.m. aboard a military cargo plane escorted by the fighters. Over Kansas, the pilot told the team that the three planes were the only ones in the air over the United States at that moment. 

McQuirk was a search team manager as they used dogs, listening devices and extendable cameras to search the rubble at ground zero. They found no one alive.  

Time is so important in rescues, McGuirk said, and that is why 90% of successful rescues are performed by bystanders. 

McGuirk was humbled to be part of the rescue efforts.  

“I felt like I was an ambassador for every firefighter who would have liked to have been there,” he said.  

He said he felt overwhelmed when he “imagined all people praying” for the rescuers and victims. 

Lally’s Box 21 Rescue Squad got permission from New York City's mayor's office to join the rescue effort. His team spent three days helping search the rubble, using two canine teams and four rescue technicians. The team worked all day and then slept in their truck. The team had only N-95 masks when they arrived, but FEMA soon outfitted them with high-quality dust masks. 

Lally developed skin cancer from his exposure. Two buddies also developed cancers. Fortunately, they have survived.  

“The World Trade Center Fund has taken care of us, paid all of our medical bills,” Lally said. 

Lally and his fellow rescuers are awaiting to learn what was in 25 boxes of tests and analysis of the air quality at Ground Zero recently released by New York City's mayor's office.  

    Capt. Mike Lally of the Superior Fire Department holds up a photo album of his rescue team’s work at ground zero following the attack on New York City on Sept. 11, 2001. Lally was deputy chief of a rescue team from Dayton, Ohio. (Cecilia Moats Photo)