In the hours and days following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center in New York City, a group of Ottawa firefighters tossed their bunker gear into a truck and drove right toward Ground Zero. They didn’t ask for permission, they just went. “Because it’s my job. You know, the running in while people are running out, that’s a part of it,” said retired Ottawa Fire Services Captain Gordie Thorpe. Thorpe, along with Steve Carmichael, John Hamilton and Brian Foley, was among those who went to Ground Zero to help in the aftermath of the deadly attacks. More than 2,700 people were killed at the World Trade Center site, including 343 firefighters. Thorpe and Carmichael spoke to CTV News about their time in New York ahead of the 25th anniversary of the attacks. Carmichael said once they got to the city, they ended up on a bus with other firefighters but were stopped at a checkpoint and told by a police officer they couldn’t go any further. “The gentleman driving the bus was obviously a veteran bus driver and he told the police officer, ‘If you don’t move the barricade, I’m going to drive right through it. I’ve got 25 firefighters on here that want to go to Ground Zero. They’ve all been checked out. They’re ready to go. They have their credentials.’ The cop opened up the gate and away we went,” Carmichael said. Ground Zero Carmichael said once they got to the “pile,” as it became known, it was “like a war zone.” “Total mayhem. Unbelievable. Nothing like anyone has ever seen before. Certainly, none of us,” he said. Thorpe said after going through a building that was “just dust and broken windows” they arrived at Ground Zero. “It was a shock,” he said. “Lots of smoke still around and that coming up, and it was still burning below, but you were there to help and find people.” And so, they did—forming a bucket brigade and sifting through the rubble for days. “I remember any time they pulled a victim out, everybody took off their helmets and stood at attention as they brought the victim out. It was total silence; it was kind of eerie,” Carmichael recalled. Thorpe also remembers the emotion of seeing firefighters reunite. “Two firefighters would meet down in Ground Zero and they hadn’t seen each other and they didn’t know if they were alive, you know. The hugs that they gave each other didn’t surprise me. It sure opens your eyes,” Thorpe said. Notes of appreciation Both Thorpe and Carmichael have scrapbooks filled with photos, newspaper articles, official patches, their identification cards and notes from that time. One item Carmichael has kept for 25 years is a thank-you note that was written by a student named Justin Trzaski from Connecticut. Over the last few weeks, Nick DeFazio, public information officer with Ottawa Fire Services, tracked him down. “I looked at the letter and you know, immediately gave me chills going on my body like, wow, like it immediately almost brought me back to that day when we were sitting in class,” said Trzaski, who is now a state trooper with the Connecticut State Police after being a volunteer firefighter for years. He was in Grade 2 on 9/11 when he wrote letters with his class. “You know, never knowing who it’s going to, if anyone actually gets it. But to be able to find out that someone received your letter, held on to it for 25 years, and it’s still in pristine condition, is incredible,” he said. Trzaski is also the son of the South Fire District chief in Middletown, Conn. “It was a little emotional, actually, because I’m like, ‘This is my son, oh my God,’ you know, and I didn’t even know what to say,” said Chief Jim Trzaski after the connection was made. “What resonates to me is how much it meant to Steve, that he held on to this letter,” Jim Trzaski said. “It was just humanity in, you know, in those firefighters going down to New York City and showing their humanity and then, unknowingly, a second grader showing their humanity wanting to thank them for helping. It was just, it all came full circle.” “And for those gentlemen to come down all the way from Ottawa, you know, just got in a truck and flew down there and just to get on the pile, just to help, you know, they didn’t do it for them, they didn’t do it for Ottawa. They did it for the firefighters that were stricken by this down in New York,” he added. Honoured on Parliament Hill Upon their return to the capital, the group was honoured on Parliament Hill by then-Prime Minister Jean Chrétien. Not doing it for the accolades or attention, both Carmichael and Thorpe said they never regretted going. “Sometimes you can’t believe that you actually went. But yeah, we were there and glad we went,” Carmichael said. In 2013, a piece of steel from the Twin Towers was gifted to Ottawa Fire Services—a reminder of the sacrifices made that day and beyond. That time 25 years ago is something they’ll never forget. “We’re still talking about it. Still thinking about it. You know, hopefully we never stop thinking about it because you don’t want it to happen again,” Thorpe said.
