they would use the emergency intercom phone to obtain specific information
on how to proceed. Some civilians have told us that their evacuation on Sep-
tember 11 was greatly aided by changes and training implemented by the Port
Authority in response to the 1993 bombing.
transfer hallways and smoke doors. Neither full nor partial evacuation drills
were held. Moreover, participation in drills that were held varied greatly from
tenant to tenant. In general, civilians were never told not to evacuate up.The
standard fire drill announcement advised participants that in the event of an
actual emergency, they would be directed to descend to at least three floors
below the fire. Most civilians recall simply being taught to await the instruc-
tions that would be provided at the time of an emergency. Civilians were not
informed that rooftop evacuations were not part of the evacuation plan, or that
doors to the roof were kept locked.The Port Authority acknowledges that it
had no protocol for rescuing people trapped above a fire in the towers.
Authority employees were designated to assist with the transition. Others
remained on-site but were no longer part of the official chain of command.
However, on September 11, most Port Authority World Trade Department
employees--including those not on the designated "transition team"--
reported to their regular stations to provide assistance throughout the morn-
ing. Although Silverstein Properties was in charge of the WTC on September
11, the WTC fire safety plan remained essentially the same.
On 9/11, the principal first responders were from the Fire Department of New
York, the New York Police Department, the Port Authority Police Department
(PAPD), and the Mayor's Office of Emergency Management (OEM).
officers, many of whom were trained in fire suppression methods as well as in
law enforcement. The PAPD was led by a superintendent. There was a sepa-
rate PAPD command for each of the Port Authority's nine facilities, including
the World Trade Center.
PAPD officers used one local channel. The local channels were low-wattage
and worked only in the immediate vicinity of that command.The PAPD also
had an agencywide channel, but not all commands could access it.