Hi, my name is Kevin McDowell, I'm a NYC Fireman stationed in Engine Co.166 on Staten Island. I was working 9-11, I was the engine co. chauffeur (the driver) that morning. We were in the kitchen watching the news when the first plane hit. We were in shock that a plane could crash into one of the towers, being that it was such a beautiful day outside. Watching what was going on, on the tv, one of the guys says "Did you see the helicopter fly between the towers?" Well it wasn't a helicopter it was the second plane. We scrambled to re-check that all our equipment was ready to go, and topped off the tanks. 

Within 20 minutes my co. was sent to the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel on the Brooklyn side to the staging area. As we were getting to the Verrazano Bridge it became apparent we were going to be stuck in traffic for a while. 20 minutes went by and we finally had a clear lane to go through. My brother and his Co.,Ladder Co. 85, were right in front of us. Some time between the time we got off the bridge in Brooklyn, to the time we got to the tunnel, the first tower collapsed. The smoke and debris were coming down in Brooklyn so thick, it was like a snow storm, more like a blizzard. We were redirected to the Brooklyn Bridge, so we turned our rigs around and went. We got to the bridge and started to go into Manhattan. They were staggering the rigs because they didn't know if the bridges were also a target and if they were they didn't want to loose a lot of us on the bridge.

I was about mid-span of the bridge when the second tower collapsed. It was like driving into a sand storm. You couldn't see five feet in front of you, it literally went from day to night in the snap of your fingers. You could hear stuff hitting the rig, rocks, steel, phones, computers and other things not printable. Well we spent the rest of that day, and the next at the site, and when we weren't at the firehouse we were there.

Everybody on this job knew too many people that were lost. My old Co. in Brooklyn lost all 6 men working that day. One was the father of ten children from the ages of 6 months to 13 years. All in all I personally knew 57 of them. Worked with, went to probie school with, played hockey with, grew up with them. I saw this flag and ordered one right away. It is beautiful. I am going to fly it with pride.

Thanks, FF1 Kevin FDNY