we were the lucky ones. i don t think it s luck. it s a miracle that we re here. miracle isn t a word you hear much from firefighters, especially not on that day. but what else could you call it? one guy after another was making it back, safe. down there looking. i got two ambulances. we ran. i can t believe we all made it out. how did we make it out of that building? 30 seconds, another two flights higher. one guy from the firehouse came to me and i asked him, you know, i said, have you seen jules? do you know where he is? and he looked at me and he said, yes, he s behind you.
joined chief pfeifer, running the command post, sending guys upstairs. one of the men who went up was lieutenant kevin pfeifer who was in charge of engine 33 and was the chief s brother. i just remember we both looked at each other, said a few words, but it was more the look of real concern that this was going to be something tough. it was going to be a tough job. it s going to be a long job. they ll put it out. that s what they do. the last time jules had seen his brother was an hour ago at the firehouse. as far as jules knew, gedeon had followed tony, the probie, into the tower. for me my brother is going up the stairs. it turns out, gedeon was with
you don t think anything of it. you get on the rig and go. okay. it s an odor of gas. jules was riding with the battalion chief joseph pfeifer, videotaping. just another call. i m riding with the battalion chief. we checked the area with meters. and it was kind of routine. it was 8:46 in the morning. that s when this stopped even resembling a normal day. holy shit! holy shit! holy shit!
i said, this is not a good sign. i knew there was nothing i could really do. i mean, i was not a fireman. but i was a cameraman. there was something i could do. it was to document what was happening. strange enough, the only thing, my preoccupation was to clean my lens. jules was with chief pfeifer, who was plotting his next move. the firefighters from my house had reached the lobby and scattered. we were kind of walking at this point. we were out of the building. we felt we were safe. unfortunately, there were
what they did that day, what everyone there did was remarkable. chief! and almost as remarkable, it was captured on videotape inside the tower. beginning to end. and tonight you ll see all of it . the tape was shot by two brothers, jules and gedeon naudet. they re documentary filmmakers and old friends of mine. there is always a witness for history, i guess. that day we were chosen to be the witness.