For the past six years I lived around the corner from Ladder 11 (and Engine 28). They lost six men and both trucks on September 11th. I didn’t know any of them personally, but we used to see them in the market all the time (Key Foods on 4th St & Ave A). Ladder 11 is a fixture of the East Village. When we first moved into the neighborhood, I kept hearing “Low Rider” blaring from a car but could never figure out who was playing it so loud. It turned out to be the PA system of the fire truck. All fire trucks in NYC tend to get customized in one way or another, Ladder 11 had a sign on the side of the ladder with an airbrushed “Ladder Eleven” and a hand-painted pair of dice. The sign, partly burnt and twisted, was recovered from the truck and mounted outside the station.
It took me a week before I went past the station. I remember wanting to say something but having absolutely no words. I stood there for at least half an hour staring at the photos of the missing men. Someone left a pair of dice near the flowers.
At the time I was also walking by the Ladder 9 “Bowery U” station on an almost daily basis. Now I live across the street from Engine 5. Engine Company 33 & Ladder 9 lost 10 of 11 men and both trucks, Engine 5 lost one man although I remember pictures of six or seven. We’re also very close to Ladder 3, which lost 11 men. Every time I see photos of September 11th with a fire truck in them, I try and see if it was one of ours. For reasons I can’t explain, I really want to know where they were and how far they got.
This might have been Ladder 11.
Most all of the lost trucks have been replaced by now, and Ladder 11 is once more serenading the East Village with the intro to Low Rider.
Photos of all rescue workers lost in the World Trade Center collapse:
New York Times Rescuers Memorial Page
Thank you to Charles Johnson’s for his posting about Ladder 11 firefighter John Heffernan, which led me to post this. Station photos taken September 18, 2001, Ground Zero fire engine photo taken September 25, 2001. What I was posting during that time: Site Notes Archive – September 2001
