Oral History Interview: Alan Hirschkorn, 9/11 Firefighter

Alan Hirschkorn served with the New York Fire Department, and responded to the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. In the months following, Alan facilitated in the recovery and cleanup efforts. His health suffered as a result, and Alan lost function in his lungs and developed Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Major Depression. Despite many challenges, Alan remains dedicated to helping his local community. Since retiring and moving to Orlando, Alan has become involved with the local Orlando Fire Department, the Red Cross, the Community Emergency Response Team in his Gulfstream Harbor neighborhood, and more.

Listen, as Hirschkorn reflects on his experiences through an oral history interview:

My name is Aida Lashinsky. Today is Sunday, January 5th, 2025. And, I’m joined here at the Orlando Public Library by Alan Hirschkorn and his son, Jeffrey Hirschkorn. Thank you for allowing me to record this interview.

Alan: Thank you.

To begin, could you please tell me where and when you were born? (0:20)

I was born in Brooklyn, New York, August 1^st, 1951.  

And, what did your parents do for work? (0:31) 

Well, my father… Well, he was an electrician and later on, he went to work for the New York City Fire Department as a 911 Dispatcher. And, he was also… During World War II when I wasn’t born yet, they have the Civil Defense because they needed emergency volunteers to maintain the city, because a lot of people were being drafted into the war. So, he was with the Auxiliary Fire Corps and the fire company. And, later on when I came around, he got me involved with that. 

I was an Auxiliary Firefighter. I was promoted from a Lieutenant to Fire Captain. We were assigned to the fire companies. We responded with the firefighters to emergency accidents, fires, and all kind of emergencies. 

And we also did AFID (Apparatus Field Inspection Duty) inspections- we did building inspections- checking the building for sprinklers and fire alarms and exits and fire safety plan, and make sure everybody is safe and going around checking hydrants and stuff like that. 

And, did a lot also with the Fire Safety Education of the New York City Fire Department. And later on I became, with my background, I became a Fire Prevention Inspector with the New York City Fire Department- I was employed. And, we did fire prevention inspections, also. But, I also was in Fire Safety Education. 

Lieutenant Joe Torrillo was my boss, and we went out to do public speaking to schools, to like, libraries- educate the kids, people on smoke alarms and knowing about having a meeting place outside- fire safety plan, everything that’s required. 

And, every year there was medal day. This is right before 9/11. I got the Fire Commissioner a Meritorious Service with the whole Fire Safety Education group, for doing all the fire prevention safety. And, that was in June of 2001. And, the Fire Commissioner then was Thomas Von Essen. 

And, what I also used to do: Saint Vincent’s foster care has these homeless children that it took care of every year, and I threw a holiday party for them with the Fire Department, the Police Department, Bureau of Daycare… The church gave us the room to make the event. And, then a lot of those firefighters, like Vernon Cherry from Ladder 118, used to come down… they would do the event. 

But, I said to commissioner Von Essen, “What should I do? Go ahead and do it?” Because, he lost a lot of good people, you know? But, then 9/11 came about. I mean, I took a toll, you know what I mean? 

I was in Midtown Manhattan, doing building inspections. They called me on my radio: “Get down to the World Trade Center. A plane hit it.” Because, I thought maybe a little Cessna hit it, right? When I get down there, I said, “I couldn’t believe.” Pandemonium. 

Tower one is collapsed. People are running. Debris- you couldn’t even see. The visibility was very poor, and I had no mask. I was breathing in all this stuff. And, I got off there and you had to watch where you’re walking on that debris because that’s building debris- I could get trapped in there. 

But, I’m screaming out: “Fire Department! Fire Department! Do you hear me?” And, as I’m going through the pile, I saw… I went to the south of the tower to see who was in… So, I got in there. And, of course it was dark. The stairway door is wide open. No concierge. So, I went up the stairway, but I had to use my foot to bang on each step. Because, I don’t want to get trapped. I got up to one landing… and say, “Got there.” And, there was a window busted out, debris… You could smell death in the air. There’s nothing I could do. 

So, I went back down. And, I’m going out. And then, I sat down somewhere. And, a Red Cross Volunteer came over- you couldn’t even tell nobody. Because, we worked for the city and everything. He said, “Follow me.”  

So, we went down to a triage area at Downtown Beekman, Bellevue, Beth Israel… I don’t know who else. But to fight, I had a decontaminate shower. I went in there, they checked me out and everything. Then he says, “Got a place to lay down.” So, I lay down. It’s hot there. And, I got up and I realized… So, they gave us all new clothes and everything. So, I was back out there 10 hours a day, with a little break where there’s more like a recovery, you’re following me?  

And, we lost 373 Firefighters,  25 New York City Police Officers and Port Authority people. We lost a canine dog that got killed. The first person that got killed- he was Father Mychal Judge. The Fire Department, like the Police Department, had chaplains, right? In the Fire Department, they hold a rank of Deputy Chief. They had the right uniform and everything.  

And, Father Mychal Judge was kind of funny. We used to go to different societies: the Columbia Society, the Emerald Society, the Ner Tamid society, Vulcans Society… We used to have dinners and stuff. He used to say to me, “I’m going to have children, too.” “Yes, father, we know.” But you know, he was a funny guy. If you didn’t want to get blessed, he blessed you. He was the first one that got killed. 

They carried his body back to the church. He was the first one. And, God spared me because the next tower was coming down. I could have been a statistic. But, then I survived. 

So, it’s been 23 years now. And, I have Major Depression, Post-Traumatic Stress. I lost my lungs. And, it’s plenty of time in that 23-year period. And my wife- she rest in peace- When I came… after five months being there- I lived down Long Island. And, I went there- my wife called 9-1-1. I was in Stony Brook Hospital- they told me what it was. 

I lost part of my lungs- took in vapors and gas. And this day on, sometimes I can’t breathe. I got to call 9-1-1. I have a medical alert bracelet in here. In fact, I was just in the hospital a couple of weeks ago. I had a freak accident, and then, I couldn’t breathe. 

So the Fire Department, they all know me. All right? And, I’m well known in City of Orlando. Chief of Department Charles Salazar– he’s the chief of department of City of Orlando Fire Department. 

The fire department chaplain, right, Lonnie is the fire department Chaplain- I speak to him a lot. And then, Orange County Fire Rescue Chief Fitzgerald, Battalion, all of them know me. Lake Mary… I’m well known. You know what I mean? 

And, you don’t look for no medals or nothing, if you do it from your heart. But about three years ago, four years ago, I got called up to Commissioner Uribe’s office about a plaque. I didn’t know what it’s about. 

They made me an honorary firefighter, gave me a plaque. And, what was it for? For the citizens of Orange County, for the fire safety, for helping the people in the community and the firefighters, with all the fire prevention talks about the smoke alarms and safety issues, you know? And, helping people. So now, I have it in my car- they gave me a plaque. So, I have a rank of honorary firefighter. 

And, then I’m a CERT volunteer. I’ll give you a little history about CERT. CERT is a Community Emergency Response Team. CERT was formed in California, believe it or not, by some high school students. There was a rural area, and there was a fire there. And, when you call 9-1-1 in those rural areas, it could take 15-20 minutes until somebody gets there. 

CERT is the Community Emergency Response Team, correct? (9:10)  

Yes. And it’s all over. So, I’m the coordinator under a city of Orange County Office of Emergency Management and Orange County supervises that. So, we’re like a civilian first responder. We’re trained to go into search and rescue- set up a triage. All right? 

Mark the buildings before they come in. All right? We’re there for any man-made disaster, hurricane, fire, and everything. And, we’ve been pretty busy. And, Chief Laura Avery is the supervisor who’s in charge and I spoke to. So, the CERT team is also going to be at this meeting- all the First Responders. 

And, it’s all about helping people, you know what I mean? I don’t know what to tell you. 

When you were young, how did you envision your future? Did you know that you were going to go into this line of work? (10:06) 

When I was young my- well, I didn’t know I was going to. I always liked firefighters and police. When I was young, kids like you, they came to visit the school, and I’d visit them.  

But, I had no notion that I would be, later on, in this. But, I joined the Auxiliary Fire Corps first. Because, my father was working as a 9-1-1 Operator for the Fire Department- he got me involved.  

And then, you needed three years’ experience to become a Fire Prevention Inspector, and all the volunteer work that I signed in a journal, everything I did with the local fire company, they took that in consideration and that got me a job as a Fire Prevention Inspector. 

And then later on, I took a promotion test to Supervising Inspector. And there, I was in charge of 10 Fire Inspectors. And, Probation Firefighters came around to take them out to the building- how to do fire inspections and everything. 

Could you describe what a normal day in your life was like, before the 9/11 attacks? (11:10) 

A normal day? Hey, going to work was a regular day. Sign in. Have my assignment, or I had to go out to Midtown Manhattan. Have a radio, you know to inspect buildings, check for fire violations, talk to people. And the regular firefighters, they, look… In the morning- They come in the morning to leave to the day tour, bringing breakfast, coffee. 

Nobody knew what happened. You know my boss, Lieutenant Joe Torrillo- I was with him. We meet up… And, it was terrible. When I got… and then here… how I got there? I was in Midtown, Manhattan. All right? So, I see all the fire trucks, ambulances, they see me. 

They stopped, picked me up. So I said, well, “You know what’s going on?” “No.” So we thought it was like a little bit… We got over there all quickly- we couldn’t get changed, everything. And, the city was in terminal help. You can’t leave an area without fire protection. 

So, they had mutual aid from the Long Island Fire Departments come in. And this, some kind of Fire Department in New Jersey- they came in to help, but they had a hard time. Don’t forget, there ain’t no radio frequency, you don’t know how to get… they had to work through all… That was rough, you know? 

But, it was like a normal day. After that, there was no normal day, you know what I mean? 

In that moment when you received that call that you needed to head to the World Trade Center, how did things change for you? (12:48) 

When I got there, it changed a lot. I couldn’t believe- pandemonium. Buildings, Tower One is collapsing. People are running. Soot, debris all over the place. You know, and we had a job to do. And, I’m not the only first responder, we had a lot of first responders, a lot of police. And then also, people that lived and worked in the area got affected. 

But yeah, jobs… We got off there and remember- when you people run out, we run in to the emergency situation. And, we have our own family, too. And, I breathed in all that dust and everything. But, when I went in there, I see dead parts… I did what I had to do.  

So then, I tell you when I got down there and went over to this triage area, had to go take all your clothes off, I had a decontaminate shower. They gave me a Red Cross blanket. They checked me out. And not only me, all the first responders. And then we had to let them know what Unit I am assigned to. 

And I think it was most sporting goods stores, somebody donated work overalls, masks, clothes, gave us N-45 masks… and, that was like Deja-Vu, going in and out. But, there was a recovery system. 

Nobody there found life. But, God must have spared me because another tower was coming down. I could have got hurt.  

And then, in the months following the attacks, you continued to go back in, helping facilitate with the cleanup efforts. Can you describe what that was like? (14:20) 

Cleanup efforts was terrible. They had to go… And, there were cadaver dogs, Search and Rescue. They had a construction company coming in. There were dump trucks picking up piles and bringing them to Staten Island to grade kills. Because in there, they had to go search for body parts, right?  

Chief of Department, Peter Ganci – they found his body with no head. He was killed. First Deputy Fire Commissioner Bill Feehan– he was killed. Then, they had Battalion Chief Geraghty from Battalion 7 in Manhattan, Ladder 4, of Engine 54. He got killed.  I knew a lieutenant, 118, a Captain got promoted to Battalion, he got killed. 

Ladder 118- Vernon Cherry and the whole company got killed. A lot of them got killed. And then, two Assistant Chiefs… Gerard Barbara, who was a chief they tried to find. They couldn’t find his body. And then, Donald Burns who’s Assistant Chief, also was a mayor of a town out in Long Island. They were living in Long Island. They couldn’t find his body. So, it was terrible. 

 Where did you find strength in that time in your life? (15:47) 

Strength? I had to be strong. But, I have Post-Traumatic Stress, Major Depression. If I even talk about it, sometimes I break down and cry. And, it’s a real thing. It’s nothing you could ever forget, you know?  

And, I have the Victim Compensation from the Federal Government- takes care of me and all the First Responders- my medical… I speak to psychiatrists and counselors- not that I’m crazy, but sometimes I got to speak to somebody, you know? And then, just… Now, I’m not crying, but still, I could come out and cry at a certain time- I can’t help it. I lost a lot of… you know, what can I tell you? 

Can you explain a little bit more, how your health was affected, and continues to be affected, by your time at the site of the World Trade Center? (16:31) 

Well, my health was diminishing. I started coughing, breathing inside. I didn’t know at first, what kind of damage I had to my body. 

But it’s something you can’t…  it was five months on that pile, 24/7, with a little break in between. And, I saw debris and everything. And not only me, I was talking to a lot of First Responders. And, it was rough. What can I tell you? 

Then later on my wife, she rest in peace, she passed away down here May 2nd, 2008, age 54. All right? She had a heart attack in New York. But, she had two cents. But, she worked with the Wall Street Journal, you know? But, when we moved, when I lived in East Patrol, Long Island, and I told her, “I don’t feel good…” She called me 9-1-1. Just, the hospital in Stony Brook, then they told me what it was. 

So then what happened was after that, I went back to work but I couldn’t go out in the field. I had to stay in New York.  But, then I put my disability in with it, and I left there March of 2004. But, the federal government takes care of my medical and everything. And, sometimes they send me money. They send me, to help me along.  

And, I have a lawyer, Matt McCauley- he was a 9-1-1 Police Department, Emergency Service. He’s a lawyer now, and represents all the First Responders, all the people that got hurt in 9/11. And, he took care of me, to make sure that I’ve been taken care of, in my medicine and everything. And, my son’s right in the midst of it, you know? He helps me a lot. 

And, you said that you lost a piece of your lung? (18:27) 

I lost, they said, I lost I don’t know how many parts in my lung sack but sometimes you never know. I could get a drip- 

Jeffrey:  He lost about 20% of his right lung, and that was because of the smoke inhalation. So right now, a lot of his medical is going to regular doctors, specialists, nephrologists, pulmonary… Now, the World Trade does pay for a lot of his care, but he’s also got his benefits from the Union and the City of New York as well. So, it’s pretty much a split across the board. If it wasn’t for those services there, it’s hard to manage. 

Alan: And, we’re going to tell you. So, he’ll know when I go in the hospital there. And, I’m no stranger to the Fire Department. “Oh, they’re coming to Alan’s house…” They know right away. And, I keep a medical alert bracelet. Like, what can I do?  

The events of 9/11 occurred 23 years ago now, which means that there is an emerging generation of young adults who do not remember it as a part of their life. What do you wish that they understood? (19:22) 

Jeffrey: I’d like to say something about that. As a person that was younger then, right? And you see a lot of interaction in life, right? One of the things people don’t take into retrospect is what happened. That’s why I got this book today: “Report from Ground Zero.” I was there. I worked in lower Manhattan. 

I love to share experiences, but what a lot of the people don’t realize is the severity of the tradition, the annual remembrance, whether it be at the World Trade site, Ground Zero, or Shanksville PA, or the Pentagon. The experiences that we have unite us as a country as whole. One of the biggest things that I thought was impeccable about that day is the immediate unity.

I’m not big on politics at all. I don’t like politicians. But, I do respect George Bush. The next day after the attack- what did he do? He violated every rule and he was down there. Shouting at them, “You hear me? We all hear us.” That’s what his famous speech is. 

I have a big tradition. So, for those people that don’t know what happened, many years ago, I suggest they take time to read and review. There’s so many things out there. History makes itself. That’s why it’s important. 

Alan: And also yes, in schools, in public libraries, where people are gathering, you know? You had people when they were young, I know, to listen to the story, what happened in 9/11, what happened in World War II, what happened in Vietnam… It’s history. And, I’ll teach this in the classroom. Right? 

And I was… A couple of months ago, we had a Veterans’ program in Gulfstream Harbor and these young, oh young, high school students, came around and there was a story to tell and I was telling them. 

And everybody says, “Thank you for your service.” And they know, even someone who’s young. Now growing up, some of them are firefighters, now. You follow me? Police. Military. But, they all know us all. It’s history. It’s in the library system. Everything’s in books. It’s history to learn. 

It’s a sad thing that these things happen. You know what I mean? And then, I didn’t realize that we were in a terrorist attack. Then later on, the military went to Iraq to get a hold of Bin Laden. Now, Bin Laden was an educated person. He had a lot of money. But, he uses smarts in the wrong way. 

He’s the one that got these terrorists that come in. Because, I wanted to be honest with you, Bill Clinton was the president in 1993. All I heard on the news is him cheating on Monica Lewinsky, when they told us to watch our front door right here.  

They came with a van with kerosene and fertilizer, drove it into the World Trade Center. They tried to blow it up. But, there was building employees in the break room. One was pregnant. They all got killed. 

So, from 1993 to 9/11, what did all these presidents do? CIA, FBI, told to “watch your front door.” Do you know right here where we live right now, in Orlando, you know that in Zellwood, there’s a flying training school? They didn’t find out until later on that the terrorists came right down here to learn how to fight the plane. 

So, they hijacked the planes and just, they walk right in, go on the planes… And of course, this is what it is. It takes a life for a life, before some politicians will do something about it.  

But now, we got TSA at the airport. You got Air Fire Marshals, you can’t get into a pilot’s cockpit. It’s a metal door, and better. Why didn’t they have this before? Tell it to the families that lost their loved one. It was three thousand people that got killed right, not counting the 373 Firefighters and Police. But that’s what it is. It takes a life for life, before they do something. 

And I watched on the news, lately after that, the FBI, somebody was at Congress and telling them, “The red flags are up. Watch what’s going on here.” Look what’s happening here in the United States, with that person, Isis with the white van that went into, oh, was it New Orleans? Killed 15 people. Bombs, terrorists… 

It’s crazy what’s going on in this world today. You can’t even be safe going into a public place, knowing something could happen. And the police, they have a very hard job. Look what happened to the ambush of those three Deputies, remember? They went in and the firefighters say, so… 

We still doing, and even though it’s 23 years, I’m a little disabled. I’m getting around, but I’m still doing something. God gave me a voice. I got the phone. I got my scooter. My son helps me. And I get around, and I’m still helping people. 

In what ways have you grown over the past 23 years? (24:47) 

More confidence. Still doing. Helping people. Answering questions. Going to forums. I went to a lot of meetings to educate people. And also, Saint Vincent’s foster care. Even after 9/11, I’ve been doing it. These are children that were under foster care that parents, they got in trouble with the law. 

So, I had a holiday party for them. And then I also took… You know the kids write letters to Santa Claus at a post office? I picked up a bunch of letters. So, this girl wanted from Santa Claus… I forgot what it was… so, I got the address. I was at, I sent the fire company over to that family’s house. They picked them up. And, I was the best Jewish Santa Claus- I dressed up as Santa Claus. 

Saint Vincent’s care- we had the Bureau of Daycare, Health Department, New York City Police Department, the Fire Department, Macy’s, Bloomingdales, everybody. And, we did a holiday party.

And, I came on the fire truck, the bucket… And then before that, I started working in August, sending letters and faxes. 

And when was this, what year? (26:07) 

Been doing it every year. Never stop doing it. This is before 9/11. 

I was at the Fire Department headquarters, was at 250 Livingston Street. They’re in the same building, it was the same building. And when they came down, they said, I took care of it. 

And, made sure I got presents and things, and Salvation Army came in, did a dinner, the Red Cross did a puppet show. Did everything for them. And, believe it or not, Joe Bruno used to be the Fire Commissioner, used to be a judge, he was in Saint Vincent’s Foster Care. John Knocks the Fire Marshal was in foster care. 

So, a lot of people that was in St. Vincent Foster Care later on came to be, you know, people like me, something. And, even though I left there and retired now, people are still doing it. You know what I mean? 

Since you’ve retired, you’re serving with the Community Emergency Response Team at Gulfstream Harbor. Could you just explain a little bit more, your role with that service? (27:09) 

Okay. I’m a coordinator with the Community Emergency Response Team. I have 15 Senior Community Response Team… and what would that be for? For any man-made disaster, it could be a hurricane, after a hurricane, or a fire, something. Or like one time, the water was shut off there, and I found out about it. I notified the Fire Department. They came in, they had to get emergency cases of water. Things like that. 

And, we’re trained. You had to be certified– 15 weeks of training. And CERT, they gave us a green vest with a helmet and gloves, a triage kit. And we have a special tool like them, not like the Fire Departments, like this- we’re able to go to a house, listen for sound, and if it’s right, we can force entry into the house, get the person out, set up a triage.  

And there’s different color ribbons we have to put on the patients. Green is, maybe you’re hurt, but you can hear me. Red is that you’ve got compound fractures. Yellow means disturb. And, black means possible deceased. We had to do that. And, mark the buildings.  

And then after a hurricane, we had to go do that, all those homes. We had to do assessment reports. Every address: was the utility shut off? And, everything. I had to write down everything and give it to the Fire Department. And, they came in. And, it’s been going on and on. We had hurricane Katrina, Milton, and I think it was another one, we had a hurricane.  

Gulfstream Harbor got flooded, got a lot of damage. So, the CERT team was out there. And, the Fire Department came. So, everybody ate. And, that’s what I’m still doing today. 

Is that a responsibility that you manage daily in your community? (29:15) 

Every day. And then, Office of Emergency Management will send out a call to all CERT volunteers to be activated. 

What continues to motivate you to help your local community? (29:33) 

What motivates me? With God’s work, like the Fire Chaplain Lonnie says, “God is not finished with me yet.” In my last breath, I’m still going to help people in the community. It doesn’t have to be a hurricane. It doesn’t have to be a disaster to help. 

I make sure I call, I make all my resources… I call Commissioner Uribe. She came down right before Thanksgiving, and gave out 480 boxes of food from Second Harvest Food Bank. And whatever then, we were going to have to deliver it. 

Then, Community Emergency Response Team of City of Orlando teamed up with my CERT team, and we came down here and gave 60 more food out. So, it’s 580 before Thanksgiving. 

And then, I organized helpers. I’m a community partner with Servants Heart Ministry. So every Thursday, one of my volunteers go there in the morning, they’ll load up with food. My volunteers go to Clubhouse Three. We have a workstation. 

The meats, the bread, the milk, the juice, the food, every… And we sort, and I have a spreadsheet. Because I get 16 groceries every week, we have to go there, and we know who you are. And if sometimes you don’t answer, we’ll call 9-1-1 and do a well-being check. 

Plenty of times, we’ve found two seniors that fell on the floor. And, I have a medical alert bracelet. So, that’s what we do there. And that’s what’s happening now, with this January 13^th. I got all the First Responders there. 

And I have a, and let me send you a picture. And, I have a golf cart that has a light, a siren, a PA. I carry a trailer with triage. The City of Orlando, the hospitals, gave me the big hospital blanket. And, I have the big triage first aid kits in there. I carry a walker, crutches, and a wheelchair, a 260 pound fire extinguisher… And then, we… It’s not going fast like a fire truck, but we respond into the area to help. 

And could you explain again, what’s happening on January 13th? (31:47) 

Okay. Christmas day, there was a mobile home fire. Thank God, nobody got killed. But then every second Monday, every month, we have the neighborhood watch meeting, which is under the supervision of the Orange County Sheriff Department. 

And I’m calling an emergency meeting, because the HOA called me and told me, and I noticed when people see a fire like that, they start wondering… Well, if I’m safe? Is my fire protection, is my security safe? What should I do? If I call now, are they going to come to me? 

So meanwhile, you’re gonna give a little sense of confidence to put in their head and say, “Not to worry. We’re here for you.” 

So, right now, I’m a Red Cross volunteer. My son’s helping me. We’re now signing up people to give their name and address. As soon as we get a larger number, the Red Cross is going to do “Sound the Alarm.” 

We’re going to go in by appointments, check your house for smoke alarm. Let us in, we’ll do a fire safety inspection with the Fire Department. We’ll go in your shed. Because another thing: people bike, carry chemicals. People should read the warning labels, right? 

Like, ammonia. Do you know if you take straight ammonia to clean something and throw it, and next thing you know, you smell smoke? It’s called oxidation, it’s cause of fire. So tell people, you can use only diluted with water. People don’t read labels. 

And a lot of this stuff, spray cans like hairspray, shaving cream, or paint cans. How do you think this stuff comes out, but with propane? Look at the warning- it says, “propane.” You got to keep them in a cool area. And, if you keep it in a hot area, you will explode them. 

And the other thing is, propane, liquid petroleum gas. Yes, we all have gas grills. I have one, 20 pounder. If the tank goes low, go in your car, go to Home Depot, whatever, exchange them. But, don’t keep it in your car. Say, “I want to do shopping here…” Because what’s going to happen is, on the propane tank, even though the valve is closed, there’s a relief valve. Any heat going around the base of the tank, the gears will come out and you’ll have an explosion. 

And this is another thing I tell these people: don’t store extra tanks. Keep it outside. All right? And, non-liquid oxygen- people need it to breathe. But, this fire was caused by electrical, right? 

And another thing, it was another fire, I tell people… Space, electric space heaters, right? Make sure it’s three feet away from any combustible material. Why? Like this rug here, it could catch on fire. So what happened? One person left it on, went away, and her house went on fire. She lost everything. 

And then, another person… If you see a problem in your house, if your circuit breaker is going off and you reset it, it keeps on going… Doesn’t that tell you that there’s something wrong? Call the Fire Department- they’ll come out. Call a licensed electrician. This person on Captain Morgan waited too late. Lucky she didn’t lose the whole home, right? 

Then, we had another home. A lot of, not just mobile homes, a lot of homes had electrical circuit boxes outside. So in your circuit breaker in your house that runs, and there’s two throw switches, one, and there’s another throw to put the heat on. So, this person put the heat on, right? A fire- electrical- went in there, everything. 

So, people got to be aware. And I tell him a hundred times. When I come down, I have a smoke detector display, carbon monoxide, everything. I even talk about being prepared for hurricanes. 

You should have a shelter kit in your house, at least one gallon of water for 3 days supply, clothes, a list of your medication, keep some money in a bag because ATMs are down… And, I have a weather radar with batteries and flashlights. So you never know, even with these hurricanes, when you have to go to shelter.  

Now, you’ve got young children, right? You know, kids are growing up. They grow out of their clothes sizes. So the families, let’s say, I don’t know, every couple of months, check the clothes size. Because, if you had went to a shelter with them, oh no. I don’t know what clothes they’re going to fit, right? And keep a little medication. Just so people don’t… And then, people got to listen to the radio, everything, to know. And, the Fire Department. 

Another thing that I do is, I think it’s Office of Emergency Management, it’s a website. They fill out a form, give it to the residents, they fill out the form, their medical, what kind of handicap device and everything. And I did that, and I sent it over to the Health Department. It goes in the system, so when you have to evacuate, they know you’re there. You follow me? 

And what is the website, again? (37:01) 

Here, if you call Orange County 3-1-1, they’re the one that gave it to me. And, tell them you want to print out the information, and print out the form. It’s just, it’s a form called, “People With Special Needs,” all right? 

And, you can do it right now. You can give it to anybody. It doesn’t have to be a say, anybody, especially… You give it to them, they fill out their information- where they live, if you have a walker, cane or a wheelchair, if you’re on oxygen… 

You fill out all this stuff- your doctor and everything, and then you fax it over. Or, I did it… They gave it to me, and it goes to somewhere, and it goes through the 9-1-1 dispatch system. So, in case there’s a hurricane, emergency, they come there, and they know you’re there. 

Because a lot of these people, even though you say that when the smoke alarm rings you got at least two minutes to get out, these people in wheelchairs, how are they going to get out so fast, right? 

But, we try to educate the people. So, that’s something. You could call Orange County 3-1-1. It’s called, “People With a Special Needs” form, all right? And they can give you a print out. It’s not just Orange County. It’s for everybody here, you and me, you know? And then, I tried it again. 

I have an emergency generator, right? 

On the golf cart? (38:25) 

Yeah, and in case for emergency. There’s a machine called, “Oxygen Conservation Machine.” What it is, it takes the air and turns it into oxygen. These people in there, they didn’t have it. I get them down there to run the generator for them. You know, to help them. And, I’m still helping them. 

Are there any resources that you would recommend for people, so that they can educate themselves for the purpose of fire prevention? (38:47) 

Right. They could call… If you’re in Orange County, you could call Bureau of Fire Prevention– Fire Safety Education. That’s 407-836-0004. Hit that. You get the office of the Fire Marshal.  Tell them you want to speak to somebody on Fire Safety Education. 

Also- I got I got the phone number on my phone. Can I give you another phone number? 

Sure.  

It’s Office of Fire Safety Education, where you can request the Fire Department to come visit your community to do an event, Fire Department info for presentation- that’s what I’m doing. And, I’m going to give you the phone number for that. If you bear with me one minute… 

Okay, his first name is Gamal, G-A-M-A-L. Last name is Mack, M-A-C-K. His phone number is: 407-836-9044. And, he was Public Safety Education. 

Also, if you go onto this website, ocfl.net,that’s Orange County Florida .net. Go into the search engine, put on there a request form for Fire Safety Education, hit the cursor. You bring up that site, hit that, and you could print out the day of the event and everything. 

City  of Orlando also has their own system, too. Anywhere you live in there. I’ll show you what I did here- I sent, I got an email here, because I put that request in for January 13. Okay, scroll along this, here. (Hands over phone) 

This is, if you scroll along here, you can see, that’s the actual request that I put in. Again: the date and time, who’s the organization? They want to know: age group, if it’s going to be seniors, young kids… They want to know age group. Will you provide tables and chairs for public speaking? 

And then, where do you want the Fire Department, the Fire Department to come with the presentation. If you’re having an outside event, they give free CPR classes, certification, everything. And then you send this request in, right? 

And, any organization can request that? (41:33) 

Yeah. And, once you put the request in online, then you get an email back that it’s been put in a contact. And then you could call them all, like I do. And, they got it on a schedule. 

So, January 13th. The Fire Department is coming in, bringing fire safety information. Even the libraries here must have certified safety information they get. You could get, it’s free information on smoke alarms, have a meeting place, fire safety, home fire drills. A lot of others and stuff. 

Even in this building here, you have a fire safety plan. You have a Fire Safety Coordinator against the fire alarms. How do you know you get everybody out to the exits? So I know if I’m right, under risk management, you have training sessions, even with the Fire Department, and your staff, they know with somebody in charge, how to get the people out. 

What is your vision for your future? Are there goals that you’re currently working towards achieving right now? (42:33) 

Well, one goal I have, I have an Associate’s Degree in Fire Science from Kaiser University. I did it online for three years. I have that. And then, my goal is to still help people. 

And, I’m still a Red Cross volunteer. I went out to the, we went out to the public schools, kindergarten through fifth grade, they have Pillowcase Project, teaches them about fire safety. The Pillowcase Project was organized by Disney. Each kid gets a pillowcase, we go over smoke alarms and everything, what is Florida known for, for hurricanes, fires and floods. 

And, what is the pillowcase for? (43:22) 

The Pillowcase Project- each student gets a pillowcase, a picture of Disney. We give them markers and they have a little workbook and we tell them what it is. It started by a couple of students that went into a shelter with a pillowcase filled with radio wave flashlights and everything. And, that started the Pillowcase Project. 

And then the teachers are there, we give them a work assignment- you can even do it here. The Red Cross- I can arrange the Red Cross to come here and do a group here, the Pillowcase Project. The pillowcase basically is for third to fifth grade.  

Then, I have another program through first and second. “Pedro” is like a puppet… 

And you let me know, and I can set up something here. We do, we go into library systems to talk to a group of people. We could do that. And that’s… You can even do that too, if you want to call the Red Cross to set up a volunteer. We do that, smoke alarms and stuff. 

But, my goal is still to help people. I’m 73 now. So, God gives me a more couple years, I still do what I have to do. 

Thank you for joining me today. It’s an honor to hear your story. And before we conclude, was there anything else that you would like to add? (44:35) 

Jeffrey: Well, I’d like to say one thing. You know, it’s amazing when you see people in the community continue to do great things. But, it’s also another way to see people that continue to do great things above the call of duty. 

My father, normally like he says, he runs a certain program, neighborhood watch, the food drive. He just recently went out around Thanksgiving time with Commissioner Uribe, helped her with crowd control. 

Even though he’s got limitations with his medical issues, it’s still not stopping him from reaching a yard’s length. That’s a big thing. People need to realize, your limitations are not physical. It’s mental. He continues to succeed. 

Alan: And, I’m still doing to help you. And if you ever want, you can get in contact with your local fire department here. They have a Fire Safety Education. They could have somebody come down and speak to a group. You can call the American Red Cross. 

If you want them to come down to what age groups, you know, they’re coming out with the materials and stuff. I think you should look into the youngest set with the parents, the Pillowcase Project. And, that’s like elementary kids. If you want, I can give you a phone number for that. You want that? 

Sure. (46:05) 

Okay. The supervisor for that is Mentha Antoine. She’s a disaster manager for the American Red Cross. The first name is, Antoine. No, first name is Mentha. M-e-n-t-h-a. The last name is Antoine. A-n-t-o-i-n-e. And, her phone number is 407-388-8253. All right? And, if you call her, if you want to leave her a message or something, she’ll get back to you. 

She does everything. She’s in charge of the…When there’s a fire, and people lose their home, the fire department calls Red Cross and we have these volunteers called “DAT” Team. They go out to the fire, they get all the information of the families, relocation, set them up in a hotel or give them some money to get on with their lives. 

And then, we also have…. Like I said, they go out to a lot of events. Like, a lot of people have open houses, events and stuff outside or indoors, where the Red Cross has a table set up with information. 

The smoke alarms, if you need somebody to come out, the Red Cross will come out. Like I’m doing now, signing up a sheet getting them to come out. But Mentha- you mention my name, she knows me. 

And, I’m also… did a lot in the Red Cross. There’s so many things we did. And, it’s about getting out to help people, you know what I mean? And that’s about it. 

I’m still doing. But, these are the numbers I gave you. And, if you want to do something here… I’m pretty sure the Fire Department must have been here many times, the Public Education Department, to talk to a group. But if you want, if you call any one of those numbers, let me know. I will come down. 

You know, Superman’s funny- he has one costume, goes to clock in. Me, I got may costumes. I got the Fire Department costume. I got the Red Cross costume. I got the CERT costume. So, I have to know what I’m going to wear, but it’s all… I’m like emergency response, all at once. 

Now, could you explain the uniform that you’re wearing today, as well? (48:33) 

This is my Fire Department, Class A dress uniform, which was assigned to the Fire Department. And this is the… You want to take a picture of it? That’s the Bureau of Fire Prevention patch. And, we were assigned to Bureau of Fire Prevention. 

We’d go out and did building inspections, like the firefighters. Yes, we gave violations because some people didn’t cater to the Fire Commissioner rules. But, you also went out to educate people and safety, you know. 

All right, well, I think that concludes our interview. (49:08) 

Jeffrey: Thank you.

Thank you very much for joining me today.  

Alan: Thank you very much. 

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