Over twenty years ago, I had joined the Hasbrouck Heights Fire Department in Hasbrouck Heights, NJ in June 2005. Some of the guys had started to tell me their stories about going to the piles one night as a Department while we on standby at the firehouse. I asked if anyone ever wrote an article on all this and they said no. I could not believe that no one bothered to tell their story so I got as many of the guys together that were there that day to talk about it for an article I wrote for both The Hasbrouck Heights Gazette and the Hasbrouck Heights Observer in 2006 for the Fifth Anniversary of the attacks. These are their stories:
I do not have a picture of all the guys together as none could get together for a group picture back then. This is a picture of us at an Engine One barbecue at the firehouse Summer of 2017 of which many of the guys attended. Firefighter Ed Carter is forth to the left, Firefighter Bob Pietz is fifth to the right and Chief Tim Moots is is first on the right.
Several Hasbrouck Heights Firefighters Recall 9/11
By Justin Watrel
*I wrote and published this article in September 2006 for the Fifth Anniversary of the Attacks on the World Trade Center for both the Hasbrouck Heights Observer and the Hasbrouck Heights Gazette. Many of the firefighters in the article have since retired or moved on from the Department with Firefighter Greg Rubino being the only current firefighter active on the Department. This is their story from the day of Recovery.
I want to thank the following Hasbrouck Heights Firefighters for assisting in this very moving article: Retired Chief Joe Taylor and Retired Firefighter Tom and Current Firefighter Greg Rubino, Firefighter and former Lieutenant Bob Pietz, Firefighter and Retired Chief Tim Moots and Firefighter and Retired Captain Ed Carter III. Thank you all for your dedication to the Hasbrouck Heights Fire Department.
Author’s Note: I updated this slightly to reflect today but the conversations are verbative from the original article. To keep the flow of the article, I kept the firefighters’ positions in current form through most of the article.
It is hard to imagine that 25 years has passed since the tragic events of September 11, 2001. Since that time, the site has been cleaned up, new buildings have gone up and One World Trade Center (formerly the Freedom Tower) has been built with views overlooking the once devastated City, where all this once happened. The whole configuration of downtown has changed since that time from a business to residential neighborhood. The vibe of the City has changed since that time.
Behind the scenes though, there are the lingering memories of what happened that horrible day 25 years ago and how it touched us as a community. Even though we are only eleven miles from Midtown Manhattan, it seems like a world away.
What many people don’t know is the contribution Hasbrouck Heights made in the recovery process. Our schools and parishes raised money and lent support to many agencies in the City that needed help. In the fire service, several of our members took time out of their busy work schedules to help on the piles with the recovery and help search for victims.
Some of them will never forget what they saw in those days following the tragedy in New York City. The Hasbrouck Heights Fire Department, a volunteer department, sent the following members over to work the piles, former Chief of the Department Joe Taylor Jr., Firefighter Tom Rubino and his son and current member, Greg, retired Firefighter Edmund Carter III and former Firefighter Bob Pietz. Former Chief Tim Moots went over with the Teaneck Fire Department. Many of these brave men shared their experiences that they encountered the days that followed when they helped work the piles years ago.
Former Chief Joe Taylor had been a member of the Department for over twenty years and been a former EMT in Hackensack, NJ said, “I was home watching TV that morning when I turned on the set and saw the towers on fire. I immediately reported to the firehouse for further instructions.”
Retired Firefighter Tom Rubino, a nursing instructor at Bergen Community College, said back then, “We were in classes when the plane hit,” Tom said. “Classes just stopped and everyone was watching TV. There were questions about terrorists but no one was sure. Classes were later suspended because everyone wanted to go home.”
His son Greg, who was at work at Hackensack Hospital said, “From the hospital, we could see smoke coming from the first tower then saw the second plane hit the building. The hospital then went to Code Yellow and we were on standby.”
Retired Firefighter Tim Moots, then a member of the Teaneck Fire Department, was at his home in Fort Lee at the time, when his then wife called to tell him what had happened. “About an hour later, I was called to the Teaneck Firehouse. We were on standby near the George Washington Bridge until 4:00pm. We were then sent over to Hoboken to help with HAZMAT. We were part of the DECON Team hosing people off, who were still arriving from the City at 4:00am.”
Former Fire Fighter Bob Pietz said, “I was working at the hospital installing an air conditioner when the first plane hit. I ended up having to leave the job. When I got back to Heights, the ambulance was called into service and I was on standby with other members of the Fire Department. As a Task Force, we headed to the City but were rerouted by the George Washington Bridge and were released a couple of hours later.”
Retired Firefighter Edmund Carter III was home asleep after a long shift at work, when his then wife informed him that the first tower had been hit. “My initial reaction like everyone else’s was that it was a plane that lost its way, but she informed me that a second plane hit. I then got up, showered and reported to the firehouse, where a lot of members were awaiting further instructions.”
Heading to the Scene:
Everyone on the Department had different reasons for helping in the recovery. All of them wanted to make the best contribution they knew how. Retired Chief Taylor said, “There was a lot of concern from each firefighter for both the City’s citizens and their fellow Brothers in the FDNY. I put out the call and asked members to help.”
Ed Carter said, “I felt I had an obligation to do so. I was given a chance to help in the best way I knew how and was not going to give that opportunity up.” Retired Firefighter Tom Rubino added, “When the call comes out, you respond.”
What they saw at the site still haunts many of the members of the Department. “It was the worst thing I ever saw,” Firefighter Bob Pietz said. “I never saw the magnitude of the destruction.” Chief Taylor added, “I could not believe it. You just could not fathom the destruction.”
Firefighter Tom Rubino explained, “The boat trip over was eerie. The lights were on where the job was being done. The smells were unbearable from the rotting flesh and dust in the air.” It was complete chaos,” his son, Firefighter Greg Rubino added. “I had never seen anything like it. It was like the end of the world.”
“It was only a ten-minute ferry ride over but it felt like forever,” said Firefighter Bob Pietz. “So much smoke was coming from the site.”
When the firefighters reached the site, the initial reaction to the site and the enormity of the situation took hold. Firefighter Tom Rubino explained, “It was like a different world. My first reaction was misbelief and anger.” Firefighter Greg Rubino added, “The smell was unbearable and there was dust, smoke and twisted beams all over the place.”
“It was like a war scene,” said Chief Taylor. “You could not fathom what you were seeing. There in front of you were 110 stories of two towers that stood only a couple of days before.” “It didn’t seem real,” Chief Moots said. “Even when you walked around, it just didn’t sink in that fast. The whole scene was just so overwhelming.”
“You experienced what the media showed and it was worse than what was reported,” added Firefighter Ed Carter. “The smoke hung over everything. I felt anger that fellow firemen, police and citizens from around the area had been killed from the assault on the City.”
Chief Taylor added, “You could not believe what you were seeing. There were cement slabs and bent “I” beams all over the place twisted like pretzels. It was amazing to see police cars and fire trucks smashed, twisted and flattened to nothing. The dust coated everything and the smell of rotting flesh was in the air.”
Some of the men said that while they were arriving at the site, there were still boatloads of civilians leaving the City covered in dust. They would be headed over to the HAZMAT Center, where first responders like Chief Moots would be working with the Teaneck Fire Department. Chief Moots said, “At 10:00pm, it was tough to hose the survivors down, especially after what they had been through. Some were angry, some were hurt and some were still in shock. The comments were heard were, ‘Thank you for all of your help’ and ‘You are so brave for going over there.” “They couldn’t have been more respectful,” Chief Taylor added.
We had a job to do
Even with the enormity of the site, there was a job to do and the men pitched in to do their part. The mood of the work site stuck all of them.
“Everyone was very focused.” Firefighter Bob Pietz said. “Everyone was working as hard as they could and no one was fooling around. The frustration of not finding any survivors was on everyone’s mind.”
“It was very somber,” Chief Moots added. “People had a job to do and there was not much personal conversation. People worked as best they could for as long as they could.”
“People were working with their game faces on determined to do the best job they could,” Chief Taylor said.
“We walked through the site where part of the tower had bent and sagged as shown on TV and we walked past the jagged edge of the wall to reach the area we had to work,” said Firefighter Carter.
While on the site, all the men were given jobs to do, working along side the FDNY and members of other volunteer departments. Some worked on the bucket brigades, while others worked cutting “I” beams and helping move debris.
Firefighter Greg Rubino because of his size, was asked to search through small crevices and assist with searches under the rubble with specially trained dogs to find pocket where people might have been. “With the spotlights and the tower lights you saw everything. You had to be focused so that you were not hurt while helping out.”
“We passed bucket after bucket. Buckets were being passed as fast as we could move,” Chief Taylor described. “I found pencils in sharpeners and receipts from “Windows on the World”, while we were digging. There was a great deal of cooperation, for example: There was a two foot “I” beam that we needed to pass and we immediately got help to cut it.”
Firefighter Carter described, “We dug past part of the building and found a piece of the plane. We notified the people in charge and members of the FBI immediately removed it as evidence.”
Later that evening, an FDNY firefighter’s helmet was found and then his body. “When we came across the fireman’s helmet, everything stopped. The whistle was blown and everyone stopped working. There was silence as the body was wrapped in an American flag and carried out of the site while everyone stood at attention.” Firefighter Carter said.
“I could not believe it when we found the body of the firefighter,” Firefighter Pietz said. “There was silence, then everyone took their helmets off.”
Chief Taylor added that it was done with the utmost care. “People got a little emotional when they saw that. The body was carried out with respect and attention. Then the men went back to work.
Personal Experience
When the men described their overall experience, each one had a different story to tell. Chief Moots describes, “There was an outpouring of thanks. There were loads of supplies, water, tools and food for the people working on the piles. The support volunteers who helped with the supplies were extremely thankful. I will never forget that.”
“I did not want to go back,” Firefighter Carter said. “I was too angry to go back there again. The more I experienced, the more I would carry the scar of the incident.”
Firefighter Pietz added, “It was amazing how everyone came together to help with what was happening on the scene. It was a great feeling that people had for one another, It was the true meaning of brotherhood.”
Chief Moots said, “People can pull together when there is a catastrophe and the expression, ‘here today, gone tomorrow’ is very true. You can almost relate to the experiences that our parents went through during WWII.”
“My main priority was to be with my men,” Chief Taylor said. “I didn’t want anyone to get hurt. When they wanted Greg Rubino to go into certain voids, I had to disagree. I was there as a firefighter but still looked out for my guys. Everyone wanted to do as much as they could during those days.”
Firefighter Greg Rubino added, “You never thought it could happen here but it did. You see a picture of the skyline now that the towers are not there and you realize how different the world is today.” His father added, “I think I am more tolerate toward my fellow man. People have to learn to appreciate life because in a minute it can all change. You never know when it can be taken away.”
Firefighter Carter summed it up best when he said, “The encounter was different from the time we got there until the time we left. The people who risked their lives in the line of duty are truly what heroism is all about. If I could have rescued one life, I would have done it.”
Will it happen again?
When asked if we are prepared for a next time, most of the men felt the same way. Most felt we would never be prepared because you can’t prepare for everything.
Chief Taylor said, “Will it happen again? It is a probability. You never know what you are getting yourself into in these situations. The people that helped out that day will never forget. You have to be mentally prepared for what might happen. We have made strides but you can never be fully prepared.”
“There will be a lot of chaos if it happens again,” Tom Rubino added. “Have you ever sat down to plan an escape route? Do you know that Route 17 might be like if we had to escape this area? It would be like a parking lot. What preparation we do have now is good but not good enough. People are just not prepared.”
“It could be hard to stop a threat,” his son, Greg added. “You just can’t predict what can happen next. You have a strong feeling that something might happen, you have to prepare yourself for the future.”
“There have been many improvements since 9/11.” Chief Moots explained. “So much time and resources have been dedicated to better preparation but we have to prioritize.”
Chief Taylor concluded our interview with, “People tend to forget over time. You can’t prepare for everything. Things are tough when Homeland Security funding is being cut in this area of the country. The one thing I can say is that the City called our small town and asked us to help. We responded to the call and gave it our best.”
Author’s Note: As a nineteen-year veteran of the Hasbrouck Heights Fire Department, I wanted to thank my Brothers for sharing their story twenty years ago. Many have since retired from the department but their legacy lives on in the younger firefighters. I was very proud to tell these men’s story and we should appreciate how our town of Hasbrouck Heights responded that day when we were needed. Thank you!
Author and Retired Firefighter Justin Watrel (Author Justin Watral)
