Date: 9/11/01DESCRIPTION: The three photographers from left to right are Jason Ingersoll, Jon Culberson, and unknown. As a footnote, in the center photo the four glowing items to the right are pressurized gases used for welding ignited inside a steel cage. The vehicles belonged to the heliport tower personnel. The Nissan 300ZX belonged to Sean Boger and the Jeep Grand Cherokee belonged to Jacqueline Kidd.
This page is to show the progression of the car fires in relation to the removal of the apparatus from the scene due to a fireground evacuation at 10:15. Its secondary purpose is to explain how the cars were covered with foam at one point and then later clean.
The initial time keys will be the Bob Pugh video since obviously it is sequential. Video stills are labeled with his name since the video is copyrighted. I will put the approximate time on the still based on the arrival times of apparatus, the building collapse etc.. I say approximate since the time/date stamp is not indicated on the video. There are times also where the video was shut off for short periods while Bob changed locations. I have used the shadow highlight tool in Photoshop on a couple of photos to bring out details in the areas that were dark on some photos.
This is the initial foam blast of MWAA 331. The 420 gallon foam tank runs out after this. They sprayed the front of the facade and the parked cars. This is when the cars were turned white.
This is taken right after the tank emptied from a different angle. MWAA 345 is not here yet. Notice the foam on the facade, the profile of the Jeep and fire, and the single pair of tire tracks leading in.
You can see the 300ZX is pretty well destroyed. That is the real question here. How did the explosion and debris jump over the Jeep without breaking so much as a window and destroy the 300ZX? You can see the involvement of the Jeep now too.
This is approximately 30 seconds later. There has been water applied to the 300ZX for the whole time spraying over it and “washing” the Jeep. That white (that looks like smoke in the still) coming from the left of the Jeep is water spray which is very obvious in the video. Then the spray from the monitor on the ground has been misting it too. Note that the fire in the Jeep is out. As a footnote, that is firefighter Alan Wallace who was on site and claims to have seen a “white aircraft with blue and orange stripes”. You can tell it is him because of the suspender hanging down. In his statement he claims it was burned by debris that flew into the station where his bunker pants were sitting.
This is what is actually interesting to me. The aircraft wing is said to have hit mere feet from the Jeep. There is nothing to indicate any damage to the Jeep. There was significant damage to the 300ZX, Foam 161, shrapnel in the trees and projectiles impacted the heliport. This Jeep would have also been totally engulfed in the fireball shown on the DoD videos. It was almost like the damage originated to the north of the Jeep in some way.
This photo was taken sometime after 9:48 when MWAA 345 arrived but before the roof collapse at 9:57. You can see by the engine smoke they are just firing up their pump to start the initial attack on the generator. Notice now there are two sets of tracks in the grass, one for each apparatus. Make notice of the position of the trucks.
This is some time after 10:15. The evacuation has taken place. The MWAA trucks are gone. The following is from the Arlington County After-Action Report.
10:15 a.m. Chief Schwartz orders full evacuation because of warning of approaching hijacked aircraft.
10:38 a.m. Chief Schwartz sounds the all-clear, ending the evacuation.I confirmed this with the Chief via email who said, “The firefighters were removed from the fire ground for 23 minutes approximately 300 yards, under the interstate overpass. The apparatus however remained in place.”
Is this a contradiction? No - his Arlington County apparatus remained in place and his firefighters went 300 yards away to the overpass.
His statements are confirmed by this shot. The Chief’s are standing right there. This is a Bob Pugh video frame but it is no longer good for time since the camera has been turned on and off as he was progressively pushed back. So what about the MWAA trucks and crew?
I talked to the MWAA Captain on the phone about this. He had the trucks pulled back to the guardrail and his crews stood by on Washington Blvd. Look at the left edge of the photo and you can see the Jeep has re-ignited and is burning freely. As a former professional firefighter I have personally seen cars “rekindle” - there is nothing odd about it.
This is the jeep free-burning during the evacuation from a different angle.
The evacuation is over now. The MWAA apparatus have repositioned themselves in different locations. Compare this to the photo above to see how much further the jeep fire has progressed between the two photos.
The time stamp on this photo is reported to be accurate. It makes sense because the fires near the tower are out. DCFD Truck 10 was brought in around 11:30 to fight those with the aerial. You can see the tire tracks from all the moving around. Go back up 6 photos and it is obvious that the trucks are now in different positions than they were originally.Summary:
1) The Jeep and 300ZX were on fire.
2) The 300ZX was much more damaged and involved in fire. The jeep didn’t have a broken window even though it was closer to the impact.
3) MWAA 331 expended it’s 420 gallon foam tank on the facade which included covering the cars.
4) Fort Meyer Rescue Engine 161 fought the 300ZX fire and had a monitor going which resulted in the foam being washed off the vehicles.
5) The fire ground was evacuated from 10:15 – 10:38 because of reports of another incoming aircraft. The ACFD crews left their apparatus and went to the overpass. The MWAA crews moved their apparatus to the guardrail. During this time the Jeep “rekindled” and burned freely for at least 23 minutes.
6) The MWAA apparatus repositioned themselves in different positions.
This is the initial foam blast of MWAA 331. The 420 gallon foam tank runs out after this. They sprayed the front of the facade and the parked cars. This is when the cars were turned white.
This is taken right after the tank emptied from a different angle. MWAA 345 is not here yet. Notice the foam on the facade, the profile of the Jeep and fire, and the single pair of tire tracks leading in.
You can see the 300ZX is pretty well destroyed. That is the real question here. How did the explosion and debris jump over the Jeep without breaking so much as a window and destroy the 300ZX? You can see the involvement of the Jeep now too.
This is approximately 30 seconds later. There has been water applied to the 300ZX for the whole time spraying over it and “washing” the Jeep. That white (that looks like smoke in the still) coming from the left of the Jeep is water spray which is very obvious in the video. Then the spray from the monitor on the ground has been misting it too. Note that the fire in the Jeep is out. As a footnote, that is firefighter Alan Wallace who was on site and claims to have seen a “white aircraft with blue and orange stripes”. You can tell it is him because of the suspender hanging down. In his statement he claims it was burned by debris that flew into the station where his bunker pants were sitting.
This is what is actually interesting to me. The aircraft wing is said to have hit mere feet from the Jeep. There is nothing to indicate any damage to the Jeep. There was significant damage to the 300ZX, Foam 161, shrapnel in the trees and projectiles impacted the heliport. This Jeep would have also been totally engulfed in the fireball shown on the DoD videos. It was almost like the damage originated to the north of the Jeep in some
The story of the tower personnel can be read here.
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