Every firefighter knows that he is always susceptible to this type of tragedy. They go to work every day knowing that they are doing something so positive, that people really respect them and people appreciate...

What was a quiet Sunday turned into a terrible tragedy very quickly.

The more I walk it, the more I realize there’s less hope, … But we still believe there is hope in some of the mall areas and some of the below-ground areas where enough strength...

I think that one of the criticisms of this committee has been statements like you just made, talking about scandalous procedures and scandalous operations and rules and everything else,

There’s nothing scandalous about how New York handles its emergencies. We had strong leadership with the mayor. We had strong leadership with the fire commissioner and with the police commissioner.

were stepping on each other.

Sprinklers aren’t required for that type of a business at that level of flammables that he’s got stored,

On Father’s Day 2001, the mayor and I attended the funerals of three brave fire-fighters lost in the line of duty. I couldn’t help thinking, as we were winding down our terms of office, that...

Sadly, many were lost without a trace.

They’re cutting holes through the roof … hoping there’s people trapped below that roof in a spot … where there might be a little room for them to breathe and where they might not be...

They were surrounding (the original fire), attacking it, in every possible way, trying to get in there every possible way, … Put the fire out as fast as they could so to avoid something like...

I can’t find anybody from five rescues and seven squads, … It’s a devastating thing. The fire department will recover, but I don’t know how.