On Sept. 11, 2001, FDNY dispatchers became the lifeline connecting desperate civilians trapped in the World Trade Center, fire companies ascending the towers and commanders struggling to build a picture of an incident unlike anything the department had ever faced. As calls flooded the communications center, dispatchers managed an impossible balance: gathering critical information, directing resources across New York City and offering reassurance to people they often knew they could not save.
FDNY Assistant Fire Commissioner for Communications (ret.) Steve Gregory — who survived the Towers’ collapse — oversaw the massive logistical response that continued in the hours, days and months after the attacks.
As he reflects on 9/11 25 years later, Gregory credits the dispatchers working in communications centers across the five boroughs with helping hold the department together during one of the most chaotic days in its history. Their work unfolded far from the public eye but deserves lasting recognition.
FireRescue1: Describe the radio traffic before the Towers fell.
Commissioner Gregory: There was a tremendous amount of radio activity. We were getting calls from people throughout the building: “I’m on the 89th floor. I’ve got 50 people.” “I’m here. I’ve got 10 people.” The calls were coming from everywhere. The dispatcher would relay the information to the command post, which would then relay it to the units working their way up the stairs because the elevators weren’t operating. They would tell the crews, “We’ve got a report of this or that.” The radio traffic was very active from the beginning.
I don’t think anybody could have done a better job than we did that day, taking into consideration everything people went through and all the unknowns involved.
What was your main direction to dispatchers during that time?
It was basically: Do what you can, then move to the next call. I had sent one of my chiefs to the Manhattan Communications office, and he was communicating with me, saying, “We’re getting overloaded here.” I told him to have them handle it the best they could, but they couldn’t stay on the phone with callers. As hard as that was, there were other calls coming in. The next person wanted to talk to somebody too, and there might be 50 people waiting behind them.
Was that the hardest aspect of the dispatchers’ response — not being able to stay on the line with people?
Yeah. You had somebody asking you for help, and in most cases, we’re able to give people help. But here were people saying, “Can you call my husband? Can you tell him … ?” You could say, “OK, ma’am, we have help on the way. Just stay where you are.” You tried to explain that you weren’t cutting them short, but there were many calls backed up and other people who needed to talk. People would say, “Please stay on the phone with me. I want to talk to somebody. I don’t want to be alone here.” You can understand what that’s like. Nobody wants to be alone. I said the same thing to myself when I was on the ground and the debris was coming down: “Please, God, don’t let me die here. I don’t want to die alone.” I think that’s a natural feeling. People don’t want to be alone.
Then everything changed.
Yeah. When the building came down, everything ceased because there was nobody to talk to. You didn’t hear anything. You didn’t know where you were. You didn’t know what the hell was going on.
What was that transition like, going from what you had just survived back to communications leader?
It wasn’t easy. First, I had to — and it’s a funny thing to say — determine whether I was still alive. I really didn’t know. I was coming out of total darkness.
How long do you think it was until the radio chatter got going again?
I would say no longer than two or three minutes. It wasn’t a long period of time, but to those of us who were there, it seemed like an eternity.
After I got my act together and figured out where I was and who I was, I got on the radio and told Dispatch what I had seen and what had happened. They were getting reports from everybody, but I felt it was my job to let them know what was going on. They called me several times with questions, and I communicated with them to the best of my ability, but I was in a state of shock.
Within a few minutes, they began directing the companies coming in. They warned the units in the tunnel: “Be careful. You’re going into the tunnel, and you can’t see anything.”
After that, there was constant communication back and forth on the radio.
Did any dispatchers break down in the moment, or did everybody stay composed?
Not one person failed to do what they were supposed to do. They just kept going. They knew what they were doing, what to say, how to handle the calls and how to tell people what to do.
I believe we took the person working the radio off to give them a break because they were inundated with messages.
When did you see the dispatchers in person after 9/11?
We went to Manhattan a day or two later. I wanted to meet with the same crew that had been working that day, talk to them and see how they felt. I wanted to know whether they needed help or needed to talk to somebody. Everybody seemed to feel they had done their job, and that was it. We talked about a lot of things. I think the best therapy is talking — getting it out of your system, especially when you’re talking to people in the same profession.
Now that we’re marking this milestone anniversary, do you think differently about how the dispatchers showed up and fulfilled the mission?
I think they went far beyond what they normally would do. I don’t think they could have done any more, although they probably wish they could have. They were limited by the number of calls coming in and by not knowing exactly what had happened down there. They were in a remote location, trying to imagine what had happened while talking to people who were there.
Do you think the general public — or even other department members — realize the trauma the dispatchers faced?
As for the general public, people don’t really know what a dispatcher does until they need help — until they call and realize they’re talking to somebody. Other than that, they don’t know what we do.
But I think anybody in our profession, whether they were with the dispatchers or not, understood what they were going through. Other departments across the country and throughout the world understood. I got calls from people in different places, and everybody had a sense of what the dispatchers were going through. They would say, “They did a fantastic job.” I said they went beyond fantastic. I don’t know what the next level beyond fantastic is. They maintained control and composure. If they lose that, everything is out the window. They had to control the operation even though they weren’t at the scene. They were determining what units had to be sent and where those units would come from. If all those units were committed, they had to figure out how to maintain coverage. There were going to be other fires in the city, so they needed companies positioned nearby and ready to respond.
All those decisions had to be made on top of managing the World Trade Center response. That wasn’t their only responsibility. They had to move apparatus and keep companies strategically located. They also had to staff the communications office. We called personnel to come in, but we didn’t have to bring them in. People who were off duty called and said they were coming. It’s part of the job. It’s part of the life. That’s the life of people in the fire service, whether you’re a firefighter or a dispatcher.
Twenty-five years after 9/11, Gregory sees evidence that the dispatchers’ contribution is becoming more widely recognized. Dispatch has become a promotional pathway into the uniformed force — a pathway his own grandson took, starting his career as an FDNY dispatcher, then moving into EMS and ultimately becoming a firefighter in Brooklyn. This pathway is a fitting continuation of both his family’s service and the department’s growing appreciation for the operational knowledge and experience dispatchers bring to the fireground.
