Michael Donovan

On September 11, 2001, Michael Donovan was a Lieutenant with the New York City Fire Department (FDNY), assigned to the Chief of Department Peter Ganci. He recalls being at FDNY headquarters in Brooklyn, NY, that morning when one of his colleagues ran into the office and said the World Trade Center was hit by a plane. Immediately, Donovan and his colleagues headed for Chief Ganci’s office, but Ganci was already in the hallway along with the second highest ranking member of the FDNY and Ganci’s executive officer. Chief Ganci directed Donovan and another firefighter to go with them to help staff the Trade Center command post. Donovan recalls the group making their way towards Manhattan in two vehicles.

As they traveled over the Brooklyn Bridge, the Twin Towers came into view. Smoke was billowing from the North Tower and Donovan saw a gaping hole. Like most firefighters, he started to size up the situation and think through how the FDNY would approach this.

After arriving at the site, the group began walking south on Church Street near the Towers. They heard what sounded like a plane taking off nearby, not realizing it was a second aircraft making its way towards the South Tower. They were so close to the Tower they couldn’t see the plane, but within seconds, they heard a tremendous explosion. Looking up, they saw a giant fireball. Pieces of the plane, the building, and people were raining down around them. Donovan recalls a moment of whiteout, sheer panic, before everyone began to run.

After making his way to the command post on West Street, Donovan ran into his friend, Firefighter Timmy Stackpole. Stackpole had been severely injured in a fire three years prior, and had spent the time working his way back to duty. He was promoted to captain a couple of days before 9/11. Donovan, Stackpole, Chief Cross, and another firefighter, George Reese, began making their way to the South Tower when Chief Ganci reminded Donovan that he was assigned to him and to stay put; he had a job for Donovan. The other firefighters walked off to the South Tower. Stackpole and Cross were killed, while Reese survived.

Donovan had been watching as people leaped from the buildings to escape the raging fire. He recalls that each time someone jumped, onlookers would gasp in unison. When the South Tower began to collapse, Donovan and his colleagues ran with others to the entrance of an underground parking garage. He recalls falling forward as the debris surrounded him. The intense air compression from the pancaking floors of the building flung him down the ramp of the garage. Debris and dust came rushing over him as he continued to be buried. Donovan recalls the sound getting louder and louder and he was sure the entrance to the garage would be sealed by the wreckage of the building. He was certain the roof was going to collapse over him at any moment. There were about 40 people in the parking garage, there was zero visibility, and their flashlights were useless. Donovan was convinced they were entombed. Thinking he was going to die, he was overwhelmed with sadness that he was never going to see his two young daughters again.

After a while, someone mentioned they were in a parking garage inside a building and there should be a staircase leading into it. Donovan and others began blindly searching along the walls until someone found a locked door. A firefighter had a halligan, a pry tool, and was able to force the door open. Donovan then tried to save those who remained inside. He began calling, “Come to me. We found a way out. We have a way out. Come to my voice, come to my voice.” 20 or 30 people heard Donovan and made their way to safety.

As Donovan made his way back to the command post, he found nobody there. Instead, he saw utter destruction; people were walking around aimlessly and firefighters were in shock. Donovan encountered Steve Mosiello, Chief Ganci’s executive officer, who told him they could not find the chief anywhere. He urged Donovan to go back to the parking garage to search. Donovan climbed over the pile of debris at the entrance of the garage and saw Chief Ganci making his way out. The chief was on his hands and knees and visibly disoriented.

Later, Donovan and the others made their way to the north corner of the World Trade Center site. Moments later, the North Tower collapsed. He recalls it sounding like a thousand trains rumbling overhead. They ran as hard and as fast as they could, making their way into the World Financial Center across the street, where they watched as a dust cloud from the collapse passed by. Once it dissipated, Donovan felt he still had a job to do. He needed to get back to the command post and to Chief Ganci. He remained loyal to his oath despite being shaken up.

As he made his way back outside, he and his colleagues realized that Chief Ganci was missing again. They scrambled to find him with little luck. Later in the day, Donovan recalls seeing a group of firefighters, some of them wailing, surrounding a body. He learned Chief Ganci and Deputy Commissioner Feehan were discovered. They were both killed. As Chief Ganci’s remains were being carried to an ambulance, another chief, who Donovan had never met before, saw Donovan sitting by the curb and told him that the two of them were going to guard the ambulance from photographers while Commissioner Feehan was being extricated from the rubble. The ambulance holding Chief Ganci did not leave until Commissioner Feehan was in his own ambulance and they left together. Donovan was very proud that he was able to give Chief Ganci his dignity that day.

Donovan decided he needed to go home to see his daughters, even if it meant just to hug them and turn back around. Upon his arrival, his wife, daughters, and neighbors were all gathered. He approached them, covered in World Trade Center dust and dirt, and hugged his daughters.

Donovan feels fortunate to have survived when so many of his friends – and the best people he had ever known – were killed too soon. He wants future generations to understand that no matter the emergency, the fire department and firefighters will be there to help. The oath that firefighters take, to serve and protect life and property, is something they live by.

Donovan will never forget the members of Squad 18, the 343 firefighters killed on September 11, those who have lost their lives since then to 9/11-related injuries and illnesses, and all of the civilians who died.