9/11 Fire Chief Richard Picciotto on the Value of Training and Leadership

We each remember where we were on Sept. 11, 2001. 

At today’s Accelerent/Benefit Commerce Group Breakfast Event, Chief Richard Picciotto, Fire Department of New York, talked about his day on that Sept. 11th and how he relied on preparation and effective leadership when confronted with this enormous adversity.

He is the highest-ranking firefighter to survive the World Trade Center collapse. He and his fellow firefighters selflessly rushed inside the World Trade Center towers to rescue those trapped inside.

Leadership was important that day, Chief Picciotto said. Particularly in this type of situation, “most people are looking for leadership and waiting for someone to tell them what to do.  People want to do the right thing and will do what leaders tell them to do.”

Record Attendance at Today’s Event

Today’s event set an attendance record for Accelerent/Benefit Commerce Group Breakfast Events, with over 500 in attendance at Chateau Luxe.

The Phoenix division of Accelerent is the area’s leading business development organization, and Benefit Commerce Group is proud to be the Title Sponsor of this division. Through breakfast events throughout the year, guests invited by members of Accelerent hear from nationally-recognized speakers and experts like Chief Picciotto.

Lessons on Leadership, Preparation and Decision-Making

The beginning of Chief Picciotto’s story was when he heard that the first tower was hit. The Chief thought back to the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center. He had been one of the first on the scene and was in charge of evacuating the building then.

He knew how the buildings were structured and arranged, with over 100 floors above ground and 10 floors below ground, 5 buildings in the same area, 99 elevators in each Tower, only 3 stairwells in each building, but likely about 40,000 people that may need to be evacuated. He knew all of this because of his prior experience

So, when he saw the pictures of the North Tower in flames on Sept. 11, 2001, Chief Picciotto knew his experience would be invaluable.  He proactively called the dispatcher and asked to be sent to the Twin Towers. When he arrived, he and his team were told to go to the 20th to 23rd floors, where there were people trapped.

After he and his crew made it up to the 25th floor and beyond and as the fires in the building continued, thick black smoke was everywhere.

“Most people who die in a high rise die from smoke inhalation, not burning,” the Chief told us.  “Firemen take risks to save other people’s lives.  But, they take calculated risks.”

So, the Chief made the decision that he’s got to get the firefighters out, even though there may be others they had not reached to help.  But how to give the order?  Radios were not working.  He used a bullhorn and started going to the stairwells and gave the order to evacuate. Go down!

They got down to the 19th floor and people in the stairwell had stopped. Nobody was moving down the stairs. The Chief got a message that the stairwell was filled with debris, as well as the second stairwell. Only one stairwell was left, stairwell B near the elevators.  The Chief and his crew started moving everyone to stairwell B—even the people who had to be carried because they couldn’t walk well or were in wheelchairs.

They had felt the shake and heard the banks when the South Tower collapsed, but it had started again, only louder. The lights went out. The force of pancaking collapse of the North Tower was so strong, air was pushed down hard enough to lift people off of the floor.  Then suddenly, just black, silent, stillness.

The first thing he did was pray.  Whatever your religion or beliefs, hope is human, and carries us through.  When the Chief realized he was still alive, he called out, “I’m Chief Picciotto, is there anyone else here?” The remaining firefighters and Port Authority personnel responded. The Chief told them not to move. “Put your flashlights on but don’t touch anything!” When there is a collapse, it creates a pocket, and if you touch something, it could create a secondary collapse, he explained to us.

The Chief finally got through on the radio and to let them know that he was trapped in the North Tower, stairwell B. The response was, “That’s impossible, it’s collapsed.” He said, “I’m here.”

He had the crew turn off flashlights and radios to conserve batteries, leaving one radio on at a time. As they laid in the darkness, the dust and debris began to settle, and the Chief saw a dark gray spot.  At first, he thought he was hallucinating from reduced oxygen, but the others saw the spot, too, and it got brighter and brighter.  It was a crevice left in the collapse. There was hope.  They eventually were able to work their way out of the stairwell that had been buried in the debris.

“When this stuff happens, it changes what you care about,” the Chief reflected. “People, family, friends are what’s important. We became a closer, more united country.”

On any given day, leaders never know exactly what they will encounter or what they will be forced to deal with head-on. Most of us, thankfully, will never face what Chief Picciotto did, but we can certainly learn a lot from him.

His book, Last Man Down: A Firefighter’s Story of Survival and Escape from the World Trade Center, is available on Amazon.