Fall and Rise: The Story of 9/11: A gripping biography of triumph over tragedy

by Mitchell Zuckoff

Jay rushed to the north side of the North Tower. He pressed close against the narrow windows but could see nothing but smoky white dust. He returned to find his friend Billy Burke with a strange look on his face, his head tilted, as though he doubted what he’d seen. Jay expected him to say that part of the North Tower had broken off high above them. “Is that what I thought it was?” Jay asked. But he’d underestimated the damage. “The other building … just … collapsed,” Billy replied. That made no sense. Jay had fought countless fires and studied countless more, and he’d never heard of a skyscraper collapsing from fire. But the look on Billy’s face convinced him it must be true. Jay instantly understood that hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people had just died in the South Tower, including some of his brother firefighters. He also grasped that the building where he and his men stood, which had been burning more than fifteen minutes longer than its twin, was in grave, imminent jeopardy.