Firefighter Larry Byrnes (6/49) at Twin Towers on 9/11
by Frank Fitzgerald, April, 2002
In a recent phone conversation, retired firefighter Larry Byrnes mentioned that he had fought “a half dozen fires” in the Twin Towers, saying that most did not even make it into the papers. Returning from a vacation in Europe, as his flight approached Kennedy Airport 25 minutes into September 11, 2001 he looked into the dark on the right and spotted “my Towers.” He thought of them that way because they had been central to an important part of his life.
Larry, who once lived with his family on Farmers Boulevard, graduated from St. Pascal Baylon in June, 1949. After high school Byrnes joined the New York Fire Department, rising to the rank of Battalion Commander. Having oversight of all fire fighting forces south of Canal Street, he was headquartered near the Twin Towers in the firehouse of Engine Company 7, Ladder 1 for over 8 years. After 40 years with the department, Larry retired in 1998.
After arriving at his home in Valley Stream in the early hours of September 11 and dealing with a welcome back refrigerator defrost mess, he went to bed and slept gratefully until wakened by his wife, Anne. “Larry, you’ve got to see this” she said, telling him the TV was reporting the World Trade Center had been hit by a plane. From the bed he told her it probably was a Piper Cub, that they often flew too close. But as soon as Larry saw the pictures he knew “it was bad.” He jumped in his car and, picking up two police escorts, headed for Manhattan. As they neared the city, the first tower fell.
In the two hour documentary “9/11,” which aired March 10, 2002 on CBS, Larry is seen and interviewed at the local firehouse where a probie (probationary) firefighter was the subject of an ongoing documentary by French filmmakers, Jules and Gedeon Naudet. Jules Naudet was on the street shooting and caught the first plane crashing into the building. This from the Washington Post’s CBS’s Controversial Date With Destiny:
Larry is seen in the documentary arriving at the firehouse and saying a few words to the cameraman before grabbing some equipment and heading off with the probie down to the scene of the disaster. As they got near the area the second building fell and “It was dark as midnight.” He helped a firefighter who was suffering a heart attack and later set up a command post in a firehouse south of the towers, sending out five man teams of volunteers to search for survivors. He did this until about 6pm.
I asked him about the reports that firefighters, carrying their heavy equipment, were seen collapsing at the 30th floor and wondered if something shouldn’t be done to limit the height of new buildings. Larry responded that in 1993 when he “was not a young man” he climbed 67 floors to fight a fire and that younger firefighters had walked to the roof with their equipment. He said the NYFD is well trained to fight these fires and that the system has “worked for 40 years.”
What was different in this fire, said Byrnes, was that they lost the lights and elevators and many people were coming down the stairs. He stated that modern buildings with their poured concrete floors offered much protection and that under normal circumstances people approximately five floors above or below a fire in a tall building might be safer to stay in place.
These days Larry is busy preparing to move from his present home and looking forward to doing some boating in the Hamptons. He also is on a number of committees working on rewriting fire laws. One of the issues they are looking at is requiring sprinklers in all buildings. “No sprinklers? You don’t belong in the building” he said. Other items being considered are outside platforms connected to escape stairs (to deal with smoke problems) and waterproof elevators.
Our best wishes and thanks go out to Larry Byrnes for his years of service… and our prayers for all who shared directly the 9/11 tragedy.
Note: The documentary, 9/11 – The Filmmakers’ Commemorative Edition, is now available at Amazon.com –
DVD version
VHS version