It was taken near the intersection of Church and Vessey near World trade center 7 on Saturday, September 15th. These guys had just finished a long shift looking for victims of the collapse.

At the end of the day I asked a fireman, who was on foot, if he had found any remains, or survivors, and he said he had found just one deceased person. He seemed incredulous that they had searched an entire shift only to find one person.

I found out later, the person they found was the only professional photographer to be killed during the attacks. The photographers name was Bill Biggart, and although his cameras were smashed (he had two film and one digital camera), they were able to recover most of his photographs. The last picture, before his death, showed one of the towers coming down.

Moments after I took the shot I posted, I made it to World Trade Center's one and two where I was emmediately tackled to the ground by the NYPD. I was actually being cuffed, but the captain, who was Irish Catholic, let me go when he saw my Catholic Media Press Pass.

I remember the sense of community. I would talk for an hour to a fireman I'd never met, or a person I'd never met. Soon after this shot I was almost arrested, but a compassionate police captain decided to let me go.

Returning From The Pile