Pete Hayden was one of the principal Fire Department officers in charge on September 11. Hayden was in the North Tower, and made an early decision to move the command post out of the tower, which led to many lives being saved.
Hayden spent the next couple of months working tirelessly through the crisis, leading the Fire Department’s task force at the World Trade Center site. Monday, November 12th was his first day off in weeks.
He was walking his dog Guinness near his home in Rockaway when he saw the American Airlines airplane crashing into nearby houses. He ran to the crash site, followed by many other firefighters who live in the area, and went to work taking command of the crash scene as he had done two months earlier at the World Trade Center.
Hayden has been promoted to chief since the disaster. ♦
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