Ontario Firefighter Reflects on Weather at Ground Zero 20 Years After 9/11 | The Canadian News

Ontario firefighter Neil Kennedy can still clearly remember the hectic trip he and three other colleagues made to Manhattan 20 years ago on September 11, 2001.

For the retired Brampton Fire captain, it’s hard to imagine that much time has passed.

Sitting in his backyard, he carefully peruses the pages of an old album. Contains a collection of haunting images from inside Ground Zero.

On the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001, Kennedy was teaching CPR and first aid to high school students in southern Ontario.

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“The principal came in, took me out of the classroom and said, ‘Yes, we have a stage. It looks like a private plane flew into the World Trade Center, ‘”Kennedy told Global News.

At 8:46 a.m., American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower at the World Trade Center and crashed into floors 93-99.

Less than 20 minutes later, United Airlines Flight 175 hit the South Tower. The commercial plane crashed into floors 77 to 85.

In a matter of moments, it became much more apparent that it was not an accident.

“I was on vacation, so I had no commitments,” Kennedy recalled. “I knew I could drive to this event, because you certainly couldn’t fly. They had closed the airspace. ”

He reached out to his colleagues in hopes of finding willing volunteers.

“The first three guys who say yes, they have free time, that’s the team of four. That’s all I could fit in my car. ”

Tensions were high and there were still many unknowns about the attacks that occurred, even if they had actually ended.

The Canadian contingent left Toronto at 5 pm, unsure whether the Americans would welcome their help.

“He was heavily armed with the United States military,” Kennedy said of the land border that afternoon.

“I remember one of them saying ‘How fast can this go?’ I was like ‘It’s a Toyota Corolla. I don’t know, 130, 140 ‘. He says, ‘Go as fast as you want. Go to 150 if you want. He says, ‘There isn’t a cop from here to New York City doing radar tonight or stopping you.’

 

They arrived in Manhattan around 7 a.m. Wednesday, encountering checkpoints and a heavy police presence.

The sidewalks were normally packed with foot traffic and the bumper-to-bumper streets were now deserted. Much of the area was covered in ash and dust.

The group identified itself to officials on the ground. They only carried their equipment and uniforms with them.

They were taken to Firehouse, Hook & Ladder Company 8 in Tribeca and assigned to a crew.

“We got to Ground Zero, and there was an archway. So as soon as you pass by, this is our entry point, ”Kennedy said. “And the first thing we saw was a fire truck cut in half, upside down.”

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Kennedy said the debris field from the collapse of the Twin Towers was huge.

The buildings themselves were part of the 16-acre shopping complex known as the World Trade Center. It consisted of seven buildings, an underground shopping center, and a sizeable plaza.

“You’re not sure what you’re walking on,” he said.

“We were moving debris this time, and our district chief is here, and FDNY … And what we were standing on was an SUV, flattened as if you were standing on an empty soda can or an empty beer can.”

 

In the end, neither Kennedy nor his colleagues missed how grateful New Yorkers were for his presence.

“I was walking down, and a couple of homeless gentlemen came up to us and said, ‘Here’s my money for the day. Collection.’ It was like, ‘No dude. Nerd. Thanks but no.'”

Kennedy and his colleagues stayed in New York for about a week.

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He retired from Brampton Fire and Emergency Services in 2018, but continues to provide vital fire prevention and safety training.

While Kennedy will not be able to attend the upcoming commemoration ceremony in New York, it is a moment in time forever etched in his mind.

The New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner recently announced the positive identification of two more victims of the World Trade Center Attack.

Forty percent of those who died remain unidentified.