Fire Sprinkler, Recovered

A pioneering member of the first class of women to join the FDNY, Lieutenant Brenda Berkman learned of a plane crash at the World Trade Center while off duty. She reported to Ladder Company 105, near her home in Brooklyn, and borrowed spare bunker gear that would enable her to join the firefighting. A police officer drove Lieutenant Berkman and others from the firehouse across the Brooklyn Bridge, where they witnessed the collapse of the North Tower and became engulfed in dust. Lieutenant Berkman formed a small team of firefighters and focused their efforts first on the fires burning at 7 World Trade Center and then on searching for survivors. She returned to her own firehouse, Ladder Company 12, around midnight.

Berkman spent much of the following nine-month recovery period at Ground Zero. Working with hand tools and scrutinizing the wreckage for the remains of those who had been killed, Berkman occasionally observed remnants of what had been daily life at the World Trade Center. A crushed fragment of a fire sprinkler, boxes of note cards, and scented bath products that likely had been for sale in one of the concourse level shops were among the artifacts she thought worthy of preservation. By the time of her retirement from the FDNY, Berkman had been promoted to the rank of Captain. Since then, she has pursued her passion for art, including studying at the Art Students League, where she learned various printmaking techniques.