Even though they weren't there, North San Juan firefighters held a debriefing Wednesday night to discuss their emotional responses about the more than 200 firefighters reported missing in the World Trade Center collapse.

But two crew members, a husband and wife, practically were there. The woman's two siblings - a brother and sister - both worked in the first tower that fell after Tuesday's jet attacks.

The brother was on about the 30th floor and escaped, but the sister was on about the 90th floor and hasn't been found.

"They're trying to cope with the situation, both the grief and the uncertainty of the thing," said North Juan Fire Boyd Johnson, adding that the couple wants privacy.

Wednesday's debriefing wasn't solely a response to their fellow firefighters' loss. Johnson also hoped to use it as a training tool.

"If you look at the way people are reacting, the images are startling," he said. "It's so overwhelming, there's going to be a lot of talking."

Nevada County crews couldn't ignore the loss of their peers in New York.

"I think we're all in a period of being overwhelmed, and we see the total number of firefighters accounted for - it gives you a sick feeling," said Capt. Jim Turner of Nevada County Consolidated Fire District.

"We've never worked with these guys, but they're still part of a family."

Turner is a member of the International Association of Firefighters, and New York City has one of the founding chapters. He expected union members would send financial aid to survivors.

On Wednesday, Turner returned from the Poe Fire, where televisions and a chaplain were provided by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection at the base camp in Chico.

The images were disturbing, but also inspirational.

"If we could get the time off, we'd be digging side by side with our brothers and sisters," Turner said.

Firefighters at the Emergency Command Center in Grass Valley fretted after the tower collapsed with rescuers still inside.

When they learned that 11 alarms sounded - and 30 firefighters respond to each alarm in New York - the number made them feel grim, CDF Battalion Chief Garrett McInnis said.

"There was a void here yesterday," he said. "Spirits were down."

A San Juan Ridge woman knew one of the dead firefighters. Loretta Atkinson said her niece's husband died in the rubble.

"The found out last night he didn't make it," she said.

Back to NCCFD in the Newspaper