FDNY Firefighter Recounts Surviving Being Buried Twice on 9/11

FDNY firefighter Joe Torrillo has recounted the terrifying experience of being buried alive twice during the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Torrillo, a 25-year veteran of the Fire Department of New York, was in Brooklyn when the first hijacked plane struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center at 8:46 a.m. He immediately headed toward Manhattan, fearing the city would become gridlocked. As he approached the Manhattan side of the Brooklyn Bridge, he saw smoke pouring from the North Tower and realized the aircraft was a commercial jet.

Upon reaching Liberty Street, Torrillo witnessed United Airlines Flight 175 fly directly overhead before it slammed into the South Tower. "Now I realize we're under a terrorist attack," Torrillo stated, recognizing it as no coincidence. He recalled the fears of a 1993 World Trade Center bombing returning, but on a larger scale.

First Collapse

As the South Tower began to collapse at 9:59 a.m., Torrillo ran for cover. The force of the falling skyscraper ripped off his helmet and propelled him through the air. The collapsing structure tore through the adjacent Marriott Hotel, burying Torrillo beneath steel and concrete. Injured with a severe head wound and multiple broken bones, he was trapped in complete darkness, experiencing a lack of air and hearing the screams of others.

Rescuers eventually found a void in the wreckage and pulled Torrillo and three others to safety. As medics prepared to evacuate him by boat to a hospital, he could hear them say he might not survive without immediate medical attention.

Second Collapse

As Torrillo was being transported, the North Tower began to collapse at 10:28 a.m. Large debris hurtled toward the Hudson River, and the boat he was on was struck. Believing he was buried for a second time and suffocating, Torrillo managed to free himself from the stretcher and dive into the boat's engine room.

Despite surviving the second collapse, the FDNY listed him as missing for three days. He was the last firefighter to be removed from the department's missing list. Torrillo stated that twenty-five years later, the memories of that day, including the darkness, the screams, and the roar of the collapsing towers, remain vivid.