GLENDALE, Ariz. (KNXV) — A former NYPD detective now living in the Valley shares his firsthand account of responding to the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, as the tower challenge looks to honor the first responders who lost their lives that day.
Ira Scott spent 16 years with the NYPD. He was home with his kids when a friend called to tell him a plane had hit the north tower of the World Trade Center. Without hesitation, he began preparing to respond as part of the evidence collection team.
While navigating congested New York City streets, he heard the radio call that marked the beginning of what he describes as some of his hardest days on the force.
"The call goes out on the radio, 'All NYC emergency personnel that are off duty are to report to their commands and respond into the city, immediately.' The magnitude of what is going on here is upon us – and then the South Tower came down."
As he approached Manhattan, Scott encountered what is now understood as another threat that day: the air quality.
"All I saw was smoke; it was different smoke, it wasn't black burning, it was a whiter greyish smoke when the fire has been knocked down for a while, because the buildings were gone."
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Of the 2,753 people killed in the attacks, 343 were firefighters and paramedics, and 71 were law enforcement officers. In the months and years that followed, more than 5,800 first responders, workers and residents lost their lives to 9/11-related cancer, with more than 9,000 more dying from other 9/11-related illnesses since the attacks.
Scott says he felt helpless at ground zero — a feeling that never left him, but one he has thought about every day since.
"I always saw the worst of humanity, and the best."
That best, he said, came in the form of people who donated clothes, food, time, and services in the aftermath of the attacks.
Now, on the 25th anniversary of 9/11, Scott is helping lead the 100 Club of Arizona's Tower Challenge this Friday at State Farm Stadium. The event gives participants an opportunity to retrace the steps of fallen first responders at the World Trade Center, or simply walk the concourse in their honor.
"You have to understand what they did. And what this entailed. If you come out, you'll see it. It's just something special to do."
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