Above: photo taken from World Financial Center building 2 on 9/11. From
lower left: north footbridge over West Street, WTC 6, North tower (WTC
1), Marriott Hotel (WTC 3). A portion of WTC 7 is visible at top left.
When the north tower collapsed, William Rodriguez dove under a fire
truck on West Street, which may have been one of the trucks
seen here. Below: crushed footbridge marked with X.
Above: Banks of large express elevators face the north and south walls. Below:
Looking from east mezzanine to FDNY command desk. The north pedestrian
bridge across West Street is visible through the windows, above the
mezzanine.
At
about 9:30 a.m., the command post was moved across West Street when the
north tower was deemed to be unsafe. Many firefighters did not receive
the radioed evacuation order. The north tower is at top left of the
photo below; the Marriott at top center. In the foreground is the ramp
to the loading dock between WFC
2 and 3. Many firefighters escaped into the loading dock when the south
tower collapsed. Light- colored smoke can be seen near the top right:
the result of flaming debris falling after the impacts.
Below: Building core with elevators at left. Note marble knocked off core wall by overpressure from blast within. The core walls were made of gypsum wallboard. Some firefighters carried as much as 110 lbs (50 kg) of gear.
Below: Mike Kehoe of Engine 28 in the north tower.
Below: in the new (2006) WTC building 7, wider stairways within a thick concrete core.
Collapse of the north tower. A large section of its core stood for several seconds, then also collapsed. Sixteen people within the building survived the collapse. WTC 7 is at lower right.
