Bill Spade's testimony (témoignage)
His background
9/11
Consequences
was attracted to big red trucks - flashing lights and sirens
His uncle was aboard the flight which crashed in Pennsylvania
He lost most of his firehouse (caserne) family but is blessed (béni) to have his family
understood his country was under attack
went to the North Tower to evacuate people
he remembered a huge ball of flame that engulfed (engoufrer)the tower - the biggest fire he had ever seen
was trapped (piéger) in the stairwell (cage d'escalier) with his colleagues - they were talking about family in darkness
was supposed to have a collapse training at 1pm in the Bronx
the tower collapsed when he was 30 feet (less than 1m) away from the exit
went to work for 7am - 9am, supposed to have a change of tours (change of team from night to day)
everyone from Rescue 5 died except him
1985 - was sworn in as a firefighter (FDNY = fire department of New York )- one of the proudest moments of his life
his dad preached the importance of family - take care and protect each other
worked in downtown Manhattan for 6 years and then he went to Rescue Company 5 in staten Island, it was a brotherhood (fraterie)
he thought he had seen and done it all
he was blown out and buried (enterré) for a while
he started thinking about his family - it gave him strength (force) to unbury himself - it took one hour