STUDENTS RESPOND TO THE WTC DISASTER

			TREES NEW YORK (TNY) JOB TRAINING PROGRAM STUDENTS RESPOND TO THE WTC DISASTER By Joe Bernardo At 7:00 AM on September 11, 2001, TNY began its second day of job training at Battery Park in lower Manhattan. Director of Urban Forestry, Joe Bernardo, and Assistant Director of Urban Forestry, Mat Cahill were teaching tree pruning, climbing and maintenance to 11 trainees. All were wearing safety helmets, goggles, work gloves and clothes. Shortly before 9:00 AM, we heard an explosion and saw the flames in the North Tower. A few minutes later we heard a loud noise behind us, and watched as a large blue airliner flew over our heads at a height of about 500 feet. We were shocked that a plane would be flying so low, and we were wondering why it was heading to the right of the South Tower. The plane then turned to the left, and disappeared into the center of the building. We thought that our eyes were deceiving us. Incredibly, we saw a diagonal cut in the tower, and, then the flames. Mat, the trainees and I were stunned, and then astounded when the towers began to implode. Our first impulse was to rush in to help. I handed out dust masks and told the trainees to wait as hundreds of people were rushing away from the WTC area. Our first task was to direct people streaming into the Battery to evacuation boats with the aid of the TNY vehicle’s flashing yellow light. We also handed out water and dust masks to women and children who appeared to be dazed. The police ordered all civilians out of the Park, except us. (I guess we really did belong to the relief effort. We were well equipped and we knew what to do.) We spent the next couple of hours assisting with the evacuation and bringing drinks to the personnel from NYFD & NYPD who were taking their breaks in the area. Mat and the trainees were “chomping at the bit,” to go to the “Ground Zero” area to give a greater hand. I knew that we had to have an organized effort. I waited until all the civilians were out of the area, organized the crew, and stressed the importance of staying together and obeying orders. At around noon, under Mat’s supervision, five TNY trainees (all volunteers) went in the direction of Ground Zero to give assistance. We’d like to salute Hazrat Hamid, Brian Maldonado, Frederici Fret, Joseph Patterson, and Matt Flanagan. Approximately 7 hours later, they returned tired, sore, and dirty. They had first assisted firefighters by carrying equipment and bringing water to rescuers. They stayed and acted as some of the very first volunteers to assist the professionals in this hell on earth situation. Hazrat, his feet bleeding, related to us one of his experiences. He saw a firefighter carrying his basic load section of fire hose. Seeing how much additional equipment the firefighter was carrying, Hazrat wanted to help lighten the load. He took the fire hose and his knees immediately buckled. It was so heavy that his first impulse was to give it back, but he carried the hose the necessary couple of hundred yards, and placed it where the firefighter instructed him to. Hazrat said he was overjoyed to be relieved of the load, and that he was amazed at the firefighter’s ability, agility and strength. The firefighter was wearing protective clothing, a respirator, air tanks, and an axe in addition to the hose. Hazrat is muscular and in excellent physical condition, and he struggled with a fraction of the weight the firefighters had to bear. We gained a very deep respect for these firefighters who have chosen to give their all for New York, and its obvious that we have a dedicated hard working group of trainees. We salute our police, firefighters, EMS workers, and all New Yorkers. The City has risen to meet this travesty.