# @nbcnewyork on Instagram

- **Type:** Video
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DdKHNPUEpup
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/70296481-nbcnewyork-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/21fa5dd8bf.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-09-11T19:03:28.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** NBC New York (@nbcnewyork) — https://gondola.cc/nbcnewyork

## Caption

A morning call for a possible gas leak was the last normal thing FDNY Chief Joseph Pfeifer experienced on Sept. 11, 2001. ⁠
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"We heard a loud noise of a plane coming overhead, and we saw this plane racing down the Hudson River, so low I could read the American Airlines on the side," said Pfeifer.⁠
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After that, the day went from routine to tragic. ⁠
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"I saw the plane aim and crash into the North Tower of the World Trade Center and in that moment, I knew this was not an accident, but a deliberate attack," he said.⁠
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Pfeifer was the first fire chief to respond to the World Trade Center. With him was a film crew, working on a documentary about a rookie firefighter. Instead, it ended up capturing some of the most dramatic moments of 9/11.⁠
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"One [memory] is my firefighters coming into the building...They came in quiet, and said 'Chief, what do you need?'" said Pfeifer. "One of those fire officers was my brother, Kevin, from Engine 33. And I told him as I told many other officers, I said 'Go up, evacuate the building, and then regroup on the upper floors to rescue those who were trapped.'"⁠
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Kevin Pfeifer died when the North Tower collapsed, one of 343 members of the FDNY killed on 9/11. ⁠
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#september11 #nbc4ny #nyc #wtc

## Stats

- **Views:** 40,587
- **Likes:** 1,293
- **Shares:** 0
- **Comments:** 21

## Tags

wtc, nyc, nbc4ny, september11

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