Mike Gabler

These are some of the final recorded FDNY radio communications from inside the South Tower of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. In the final minutes before the tower collapsed, firefighters were still climbing toward the impact zone, searching for survivors and calling for more men to come up. Battalion Chief Orio Palmer had reached the 78th floor. Lt. Joseph Leavey of Ladder 15 was climbing toward him. With barely two minutes remaining, Palmer called Battalion 9 Chief Edward Geraghty and told him they had access to the floors above. Geraghty's response: “All right, I'm on my way up, Orio.” Seconds later, a Ladder 15 firefighter radioed that he was trapped in an elevator shaft: “We're chopping through the wall to get out.” The radio signal disappeared shortly afterward. The South Tower collapsed at 9:59 a.m. Orio Palmer, Joseph Leavey and Edward Geraghty were killed that morning. They were still going up while others were trying to get out. Note: Some images used in this clip are unverified. For the sake of accuracy, I have not attempted to identify those individuals.