The Second Tower's Down: A Firefighter's Story

by John McCole

As he helped out at his local church while off-duty on the morning of September 11, 2001, John Mc Cole had absolutely no idea of the horror he would encounter later at the World Trade Center. He was urgently recalled to work and, two minutes away from the collapsed first tower, he heard the words 'The second tower's down' being frantically repeated on the radio. This book begins as John enters the aftermath of the WTC collapse - the hot air thick with ash, twisted metal, debris, fires, rescue services, casualties and chaos. "I thought if there's a hell, this is what it must look like". It continues through the nightmare days that followed and explores the emotional and physical strain that he faced and how he dealt with it. As the months have passed, John has gradually gained perspective and here he shares hi memories of a life as a firefighter with the many colleagues that he lost in the tragedy. 'The Second Tower's Down' is a gripping, moving, personal story of one man who had to endure the unendurable.

Genres: Nonfiction

166 pages, Paperback

First published September 11, 2002

Reviews

[chucklesthescot · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story of a fireman who was working in the rubble at Ground Zero to try and locate his missing colleagues. Where other books concentrate on the survivors story, this looks at what the on duty firemen not in the original rescue were doing as the Towers collapsed, and shows how heartbreaking and frustrating the search for survivors was.