From the halls of World Trade: A reflection on the 1993 bombing

By T. Stephen Gluf / tod@theklaxon.com / 02.26.2010

Updated on: 02.25.10 at 9:15 pm

Seventeen years ago today, terrorism came to America in the form of a bombing at the World Trade Center. Since my wife and some of her co-workers were in the building at the time of the explosion, many of the reflections on what happened that day will be through their eyes.

It was a cold and snowy Friday, just a little bit after noon, when suddenly a loud explosion was heard up on the 39th and 40h floors of the firm.

The building shook momentarily and then stopped. There was no real concern by anyone, including those in upper management. The firm did not have any written emergency evacuation plan in place and, therefore, told everyone to “stand by at your desk and await further instructions.”

Things changed drastically when a short while later, thick black smoke began to pour in through the elevator banks on those floors. It was now that upper management told everyone to leave immediately.

But it was every person for themselves. With no pre-planned evacuation method or route on hand, no roll call taken before the mad egress and no pre-determined staging area where the employees were to meet for a head count after exiting the building, chaos just got even more confusing.

People began to head quickly to the closest stairwell, which upon entering was dark and full of people. No one had a flashlight and the stairs were extremely crowded with people who were barely moving.

Leaving that stairwell, some began to look for alternate routes of evacuation. Another stairwell was eventually found, which was much less crowded and at least moving in the right direction. Finally, making it to the ground floor (which seemed to take hours) there were many security and police personnel directing people safely out of the building and down the avenues out of harms way.

This chaos could have been avoided if management had taken the time to plan and prepare for an emergency. Time and time again when it comes to saving lives, planning makes all the difference. And this would be evident when the attack of Sept. 11, 2001, took place.

Immediately following the 1993 incident, an emergency action plan was put into place within the firm. Floor wardens were assigned along with flashlights, evacuation kits and a written protocol to count heads when mass exiting on the run. (All employees were safely evacuated during the 2001 incident).

Let us take the time to honor the six individuals whose lives were lost that day.

May they rest in peace.

John DiGiovanni

Robert Kirkpatrick

Stephen Knapp

William Macko

Wilfredo Mercado

Monica Smith