#45: Inside the North Tower on 9/11 | Chief Joseph Pfeifer

Michael speaks with FDNY Chief Joseph Pfeifer, who led the first fire units into the North Tower on 9/11 and later gave the order to evacuate the towers. Chief Pfeifer later served as the FDNY Chief of Counterterrorism and Emergency preparedness, is a Senior Fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School, and wrote Ordinary Heroes, which examines what 9/11 taught him about crisis leadership, resilience, and the ordinary acts of heroism. They discuss:

(00:00) Introduction
(02:36) Racing to the North Tower
(09:20) Seeing His Brother in the Lobby
(12:10) The Second Plane Hits
(14:40) The South Tower Falls and the Evacuation Order
(19:20) Surviving the North Tower Collapse
(23:19) What Makes an Ordinary Hero
(32:54) Three Principles for Crisis Leadership
(36:57) Four Stages of Resilience
(46:48) The Threats Communities Face Next

This episode includes detailed discussion of the September 11 attacks, death, and trauma.

Two Percent is hosted by Michael Easter. Today's episode was produced by Joey Fischground, Robbie Hiser, Dana Brawer and Julia Nutter. From Kaleidoscope, our executive producers are Mangesh Hattikudur and Kate Osborn and Julia Nutter. From iHeart, our executive producers are Katrina Norvell and Nikki Ettore. Our Head of Video is Maria Paz Mendez Hodes. Our editor is Will Mayo.

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