On December 10, 2001, Lieutenant Daniel Williams was interviewed by Battalion Chief Kenahan, who asked Danny to describe the events of the day. Danny answered:

Beginning on September 11, approximately quarter to nine in the morning, voice alarm went off in quarters, telling 39 engine to turn out. Highly excitable voices over the voice alarm, turn out with the high-rise rig.

I was down on the apparatus floor at the time. I stepped into the house watch area, where one of the members had a TV on, and we heard that a plane hit the trade center, took a quick look, figured out to myself that wasn't a small aircraft that hit the tower. I went over to the apparatus and just started looking over equipment, thinking we are going to be going momentarily.

Approximately ten minutes later, one of the members yell out, “The second tower was hit,” and I started thinking it was a terrorist act.

Approximately ten after nine, we received a ticket to respond to the south tower command post, along with Ladder 2, Ladder 13, and Battalion 10. We were special called.

We had trouble getting out of quarters due to numerous police cars parked in front of the firehouse. Evidently, they were on recall. It took us a few minutes to get out of quarters.

As we pulled out on Lexington Avenue, 13 truck and the 10th battalion went by, and we convoyed down to the site with them. We parked on West Street at approximately, I'd say, Murray Street, and we proceeded south.

We took our extra bottles, proceeded down to the command post, which was in front of 2 World Financial Center at the loading dock area. At that time I reported in, there was a few companies, a few engine companies, and a couple of ladder companies standing there.

I heard the chief say to the companies that were already there, “Report into the north tower.” The one company I do realize that went into the north tower that was assigned to the north tower was 13 truck.

The 10th Battalion Chief Harten said, “Stand by. We'll have an assignment for you in a few minutes.” At that time, I believe we were the only truck company still left at the command post, and I believe there were two or three engine companies still standing by on the other side. We had the engines on one side and the trucks on the other.

As the time -- as I was standing there, I was watching the towers, and especially the south tower. I really believed that there was going to be a partial collapse, meaning the upper floors were going to come off. You know, I'd say there was 15 floors of fire.

We were witnessing people coming off the building, jumping from the north tower, which was directly across the way from us. A few of my firefighters started getting very upset, and I did yell something to them. In other words, turn around, shut up, turn around, look the other way. There's nothing we can do for these people but say a prayer.

I turned my face back towards the buildings as -- looking up at the south tower. It seemed like the one floor exploded, but in retrospect I'm thinking that was the compressive force of the building coming down that blew it out. I remember yelling, “Run.”

My company and I know other members were behind us from the command post. My company and I know other members were behind us from the command post. They came running into the loading dock area. At that time, a heavy cloud of dust entered the loading dock area where we had zero visibility for a couple of minutes.

I asked members of 16 truck if everybody was there, and I went through the riding list. We were missing one member at this time, and I told the rest of the members up the ramp we're going to find the other member. We proceeded out up the ramp out towards West Street again, from 2 World Financial Center, and we started doing a search looking -- mainly looking for our guy that was missing.

At this time, we found 10 or 15 walking wounded types. area. We directed them into the loading dock At this time, there wasn't much debris on the ground. There was maybe four or five inches of concrete dust and light debris around that area.

As we were directing the people into the loading dock area, we came across an EMS worker that told us he weighed approximately 350 pounds. He was heavier than that. I believe I said, “We got to get you -- you got to get out of here. Can you walk with assistance?”

Two of the members tried to pick him up, one under each shoulder. He had a broken leg and a broken arm, evidently, and he was yelling in pain. My chauffeur, Oscar Davila, found a gurney that was blown down the loading dock, down the ramp. He brought that up, and we placed this member on -- this EMS worker on the gurney.

A couple of the brothers wanted to take him up to West Street, and I said, “No, we're going to go through the building, through the loading dock area and out the back,” since the north tower was still burning.

We started wheeling him into the locking dock area when a member of 6 truck -- I don't know if he was recall or if he was one of the on-duty members, said to me he couldn't find his company. He He did not have a radio.

At that time, the radios were going. You couldn't get in edgewise any word on the radios. I told him to stay with us until the radio traffic calmed down, and I would notify someone of that fact.

We got down into the loading dock area with this gentleman on a gurney. There were trucks blocking the loading dock. My chauffeur moved one truck so we could get him up on the loading dock.

At this time, the -- we still hadn't found our fifth man. He was still missing. I had the other -- I had three of the members start leading the walking wounded and other people we were finding within the financial center, leading them up the C stairway to the rear of 2 World Financial Center toward the river.

About this time, I was told by my chauffeur and the man he was with, the EMS worker and the man from 6 truck, that they were stuck in the subbasement. The elevator took them down. They took an elevator, and it took them down into the subbasement. At this time, I told the chauffeur to get out of the elevator and just stand by. I'll get help to help get this guy up the stairs.

I started up the C stairway to retrieve the rest of the members to give a hand with this guy when I heard a deep rumbling, and I felt vibrations. I thought it was the financial center coming down.

I was in the stairwell. I ducked behind the stairs. The door was propelled with quite a bit of force, and debris went down the hallway, went flying down the hallway. Then within 15 seconds at the most, it subsided. I proceeded up the stairs where I found three of the members.

I was still missing my can man at this time. I got my three members that were up there. I got a couple of other members. I believe one was from 53 engine. We went down the stairs into the subbasement, and we carried the EMS worker up the stairs, up -- I believe it was four flights of stairs to the back of the 2 World Financial Center. We took him over to the marina over there, where he was placed on a police boat and was taken to Jersey, evidently.

At this time, I saw a battalion chief with no bunker coat or helmet on him, and I asked him where the command post was. He just kept repeating, “Go south.” At this time 6 truck member, he left me. Couldn't find him. We were still without our can man.

The rest of the company, we proceeded down along the river's edge until approximately -- I believe it's Albany Street. I saw a couple of fire boats tied up to the pier head there, and I believe it was Commissioner Gregory. I asked him where the command post was. He mentioned that he was it, and to help stretch a line from the fire boat down Albany Street.

The members of 16, we helped numerous other members stretch this 3 1/2 down to approximately Washington Street, where I noticed a building pretty well involved. I don't know what -- you know, couldn't tell where I was at this time approximately.

After stretching that line, headed back, and we are going to head north again, go back to the financial center and see if we can find our member. We went back down through the same stair, the C stairway, in the 2 World Financial Center and worked our way out through the loading dock area, which by now was covered with heavy steel I beams, and box beams and all of this, where the command post was.

We did start climbing into voids and things, tried to do a radio feedback assist, got nothing on that. We had no tools. We lost all our tools in the first collapse. We proceeded out to the financial center after doing a search of a couple of floors in that building.

We worked our way up -- I believe it's North End Avenue to -- it might have been Vesey Street where there was another command post. While we were working our way up, I ran into the member that was missing, on North End Avenue. We ran into him. He did state that after the first tower came down, he just -- he ran through the building, came out near the river and headed north. He asked me if I was mad at him. I said no. I said at that time nobody ever saw anything like this, and I was just very concerned.

I took the members into a restaurant. I'd say this was approximately two o'clock in the afternoon, took them into a restaurant that was open on -- I believe it's Vesey Street. Not too many members in there. We had some water, and I had everybody call home to let somebody know they were okay.

I heard that 39 was trapped, and the command post, the north command post, was telling us, don't go down there. We did do a survey around the area there and around the perimeter of where the buildings were, looking for any victims in the outlying areas of where this occurred.

About, I would say, four o'clock or so, we were told go to up to Stuyvesant High School, where they had a command post, triage, to do a roll call, you know. We proceeded north up West Street, and we went to Stuyvesant High School.

It was not too soon after that that 7 World Trade Center collapsed, and at that time people were yelling, “Run,” and we just stood there and watched the thing come down. That was about it.

We did -- I did give them a list of company numbers of members that we told to get on boats to go over for medical aid, wherever they were taken, whether it was Jersey or Staten Island. It was approximately ten members on that, on the list that I had. No names. It was just company numbers.

At Stuyvesant High School, a few of the members did get, you know, eyes washed out and things like that, and then we took a little rest up there in the cafeteria area and went back out.

Our rig was moved sometime during the day. We got back to that, and there was damage done to it, the windshield and lights, things like that.

At approximately eight o'clock we left the scene. We were ordered to take up by the command post, take our rig back to quarters, which we did.

Sorry to say that Rob and Ray didn't make it through that day.