As the 25th anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks approaches, a Lincoln firefighter is remembering his deployment to New York City and the lasting impact of seeing the devastation of Ground Zero firsthand.
Lincoln Fire and Rescue Battalion Chief Mark Majors was a member of Nebraska Task Force One when the attacks happened in 2001. Majors had joined the task force as a rescue specialist the year before and had recently completed an 80-hour structural-collapse course.
When the towers were hit, Majors says members of the task force jumped into action. “We really wanted to go and just do whatever we could to help.” Majors says the team eventually deployed to New York about 10 days after the attacks. Part of the team flew on a chartered flight, while others traveled with trucks and equipment.
After arriving at an Air Force base, the team went through extensive security checks and credentialing before making its way into lower Manhattan. Majors remembers how surreal it was to see a city essentially shut down.
“Just seeing signs that, imagine driving down Interstate 80 and you’re traveling through Iowa and you get to the border and you see a sign that says Nebraska closed. Turn around and go back.” The task force was initially assigned to provide mutual aid and help cover other emergency calls while New York City firefighters and rescue crews remained committed to Ground Zero.
Eventually, Majors and other task force members were assigned to 12-hour shifts at the World Trade Center site. His work included rescue support and logistical duties, including organizing and moving equipment brought in by response teams from around the country.
Majors says the emotions he felt after the attacks were much like those experienced by millions of Americans watching the events unfold on television. “You felt sad, fear, anger, anxiety, what’s next? There’s a thousand different things that run through your head.”
But once he arrived in New York, the job took over. “We’re here to help. We’re here to do a job. We’re here to do whatever we can, regardless of the assignment. How big, how small, it didn’t matter.”
Majors says seeing Ground Zero in person was dramatically different from watching the disaster unfold on television. “The depth and the size and the height and the width of the disaster of Ground Zero downtown was something that will never escape my mind.”
He says the experience also helped shape his career and the evolution of Nebraska Task Force One. In the years following 9/11, Majors and other firefighters received additional training in areas including hazardous materials, weapons of mass destruction and disaster response. The team also expanded its capabilities following other major disasters, including Hurricane Katrina.
Majors says the lesson for emergency responders is that they have to continue adapting. “If you’re staying put, you’re behind. So it’s important for us to evolve.” A quarter century after September 11th, Majors says the memories of that deployment remain vivid, particularly the moment he went from seeing the devastation on television to standing in the middle of it himself.