Last man down

On September 11th, leading seven companies of firefighters up the B stairway to Tower 1 of the World Trade Centre, Battalion Commander Richard 'Pitch' Picciotto was the highest ranking fire department commander in the twin towers when Tower 2 fell. Pitch and his men were on the 17th floor racing upward when the world seemed to explode around them. From his intimate knowledge of the Towers gained during service after the 1993 WTC bombing Pitch was able to lead the firefighters to an alternate stairwell to floor 12 where they were met with a horrifying sight -- more than 50 workers too crippled, too old, or too weak to have made their way out on their own. Pitch ordered his firefighters to form a human chain and pushed and cajoled them down the stairs. They were in the 7th floor stairwell when Tower 1 fell, accordioning into a mound of burning rubble. Pitch and a handful of survivors woke to find themselves buried on the landing of floor 2. This is the story of how they made it out, and how Pitch Picciotto, the highest-ranking firefighter survived the collapse of the twin towers and led his men and the survivors to safety.