NYC Firefighter Shares His 9/11 Story

A former New York City firefighter is sharing his story about being called to the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

Scott Schrimpe spoke to a room packed full of local firefighters, emergency medical services crews, and police officers in Idaho Falls on Wednesday.

Most watched on TV or heard it on the radio, but Schrimpe described tasting 9/11, smelling it, feeling it. He said Wednesday was only the second time he’s talked publicly about his experience.

As the world watched Sept. 11 unfold from a distance, Schrimpe was in the middle of it.

“Cars on fire, buildings on fire, people screaming,” he said.

The former firefighter was on his way home after a shift with his South Bronx-based Squad 41 when the second plane hit the Twin Towers.

Schrimpe said he headed straight for the city.

“The North Tower started coming down,” he said. “I just ran, ducked under a car, got hit with debris and buried a little bit.”

Schrimpe was pinned under that car, he said, for 15 minutes. He said the ground below him was shaking until he wiggled free.

“I found my company,” said Schrimpe. “I found the truck.”

But, he said, the six crew members who arrived on that truck, never left.

“Dealing with families was the hardest,” said Schrimpe. “Driving widows to fill out paperwork, death benefits paperwork — it’s horrible, finding bodies, finding and burying them.”

Schrimpe said he was at Ground Zero every day until the last beam came down eight months later.

He said it was like walking through a graveyard, an experience that’s left him with lung problems and post-traumatic stress disorder.

“It’s hard,” said Schrimpe. “I can’t sleep with anything on my feet just from being trapped under the car.”

“That opens up your eyes to see it from his viewpoint,” said Dean Ellis, chief of the Idaho Falls Fire Department.

Schrimpe, a father of one, retired in 2005 after an injury. He said he wouldn’t change a thing.

“You ask anyone else, would they do anything different? They would do the exact same thing on Sept. 11 — the exact same thing,” Schrimpe said.

He said his message is: “Just never forget.”

Schrimpe was in town for a quick personal visit, and the presentation was just organized last-minute.

Many in the audience were fire and emergency personnel themselves and said the department is a brotherhood. There were few dry eyes by the end of Schrimpe’s presentation.

Schrimpe was part of search-and-rescue efforts immediately following the North Tower collapse. He and many others are being monitored for health issues as a result.