The FDNY battalion chief who served as the first incident commander at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001 announced that he will retire this week.
Joseph Pfeifer is the last of the chiefs to work at the World Trade Center to hang up his helmet from the department, according to the New York Times. “My rank allowed me to make changes,” Pfeifer said. “To gain back control.”
Pfeifer, 62, is a 37-year veteran of the department and rose to the rank of assistant chief.
Filmmaker Jules Naudet was doing a ride along with Pfeier, who commanded Battalion 1 on the morning of Sept. 11. They were checking a reported gas leak when an the noise of an overhead airplane captured the firefighters attention.
Jules captured the first jet liner crashing into the North Tower on film, and then followed Pfeifer and crews to the World Trade Center where Pfifer set up the initial command posted.
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“How innocent and naïve I was,” Pfeifer told the newspaper.
The video caught Pfiefer giving orders to his brother, Kevin, a lieutenant at Engine 33 before Kevin and his crew ascended the stairs of the North Tower.
Kevin was killed in the collapse.
After 9/11, Chief Pfeifer developed FDNY's Center for Terrorism and Disaster Preparedness, which worked to bridge the gaps between fire and law officials.
“The next mega-attack will come back to high-rises,” Pfeifer told the newspaper, saying that vertical terrorists could set fires to delay fire and police crews.
After he retires, Pfiefer plans to teach at Columbia and Harvard universities.
