Fire Truck, Recovered
Ladder Company 3
- Description
- Destroyed FDNY Ladder 3 truck. The front of the vehicle and ladder are crushed, burned, and rusted. Other parts of the truck show scorch marks, melting, and deformation.
- Historical Notes
- Ladder 3 was parked on West Street near Vesey Street on September 11, 2001. The damage the truck sustained, as a result of the collapse of the Twin Towers destroyed the vehicle. The front cab was shorn off and the aerial ladder was partially crushed.
Curator's Comment
FDNY Ladder Company 3 is located in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan. On September 11, 2001, led by its highly decorated captain, Patrick John Brown, the company asked a dispatcher to deploy its members to the World Trade Center disaster. After they parked the rear mount aerial ladder truck on West Street near Vesey Street, 11 members of the company, some of whom had just gone off duty after completing overnight shifts, entered the North Tower. They were among thousands of uniformed responders who collectively formed the single largest dispatch of nonmilitary emergency personnel in the history of New York City and the nation.
Members of FDNY Ladder Company 3 are known to have reached the 35th floor by 9:21 a.m. Captain Brown, unable to communicate directly with the lobby command post, used a functioning office telephone to call a Manhattan dispatcher. He reported that burn victims and numerous others were making their way down the stairs and that he understood the fire to be above the 75th floor. In his last recorded transmission, Captain Brown said "Three Truck, and we are still heading up." All 11 responding members of Ladder Company 3 were inside the building and killed when it collapsed at 10:28 a.m.
Members of FDNY Ladder Company 3 are known to have reached the 35th floor by 9:21 a.m. Captain Brown, unable to communicate directly with the lobby command post, used a functioning office telephone to call a Manhattan dispatcher. He reported that burn victims and numerous others were making their way down the stairs and that he understood the fire to be above the 75th floor. In his last recorded transmission, Captain Brown said "Three Truck, and we are still heading up." All 11 responding members of Ladder Company 3 were inside the building and killed when it collapsed at 10:28 a.m.
- Accession Number: C.2011.179.27
- Dimensions: 432 in X 120 in X 144 in
- Dimensions (Metric): 1097.28 cm X 304.8 cm X 365.76 cm
- Source: Port Authority of New York & New Jersey (donor)
- Credit Line: Recovered from the World Trade Center site after September 11, 2001
Collection 9/11 Memorial Museum, Courtesy of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
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