As firefighters and communities across North America mark the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Barrie Fire Chief Kevin White is reflecting on a trip to New York City in the weeks after the tragedy, when he joined others in supporting grieving firefighters and families at Ground Zero.
White was among members of the firefighting community who travelled to New York following the attacks on the World Trade Center, which killed nearly 3,000 people, including 343 firefighters from the New York City Fire Department.
The trip was made possible through community support.
“We had a generous donation from Jamie Massey to send a couple of planes down,” White told Barrie 360. “So we were able to get there and support the families through their grieving of the obvious destruction and chaos that we encountered when we arrived.”
Once in New York, White and others were able to visit some of the firehouses closest to Ground Zero, including FDNY's Ten House and Seven House, both of which were heavily impacted by the events of Sept. 11.
“We got right into where the Ten House was,” White said. “That fire truck was lost in the collapse, and we were able to meet with firefighters both at the Ten House and the Seven House there, which were the closest to Ground Zero, and support the firefighters through what they were going through, a very difficult time.”
A city in mourning
White said conversations with firefighters and family members were centred largely on grief and support during one of the darkest periods in recent history.
“It was a lot of condolences,” he said. “Unfortunately, a very dark time in North American history.”
The group also attended funerals for firefighters who had died in the collapse of the Twin Towers. With so many families affected, fire departments and firefighter associations from across the continent were called upon to help provide support.
“Because there was so much loss there, we were called on from across North America to attend funerals to try and help have family support through the difficult time,” White said.
Although the visit lasted only a single day, the images he witnessed have stayed with him.
“We were there for one full day. So we did not spend an overnight. We flew in early in the morning, and we flew back late at night,” he said.
Scenes that remain unforgettable
Asked what Ground Zero looked like when he arrived, White said the devastation was exactly as many people would imagine.
“It looked exactly like you would imagine with the buildings completely gone, people digging through rubble, trying to find their lost friends,” he said.
He also remembers the countless signs and posters placed throughout the city as families desperately searched for missing loved ones.
“Not only 343 firefighters died, but obviously thousands of civilians,” White said. “So there was great loss there, lots of posters of people looking for loved ones and trying to find those that they couldn't, that probably had died.”
At the time, White said few people could fully grasp how much the attacks would reshape daily life, emergency services and global security.
“We certainly knew the world had changed at that moment,” he said.
Still, for firefighters, one aspect of the tragedy remains particularly significant.
“Losing 343 firefighters in the collapse was a great loss to our community and something that we'll never recover from in firefighting in North America,” White said.
Twenty-five years later, the memories of that visit remain vivid, serving as a reminder of both the immense loss experienced on Sept. 11 and the solidarity shown by firefighters and communities across North America in its aftermath.
