cover image Firefight: Inside the Battle to Save the Pentagon on 9/11

Firefight: Inside the Battle to Save the Pentagon on 9/11

Rick Newman, Patrick Creed. Presidio Press, $27 (486pp) ISBN 978-0-89141-905-1

Creed, a U.S. Army officer and volunteer firefighter, and U.S. News and World Report staff writer Newman (Bury Us Upside Down) interviewed thousands of people who were involved after terrorists crashed American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon at 9:38 the morning of 9/11, while personnel were grouped around TV sets watching the Twin Towers attack in New York. Within two minutes, fire crews from Arlington, Fairfax, Alexandria and Washington, D.C. converged on the site, joining military and civilian personnel working to rescue those trapped in the building-Surgeon General P.K. Carlton working to help the injured, Navy SEALS stationed to catch people jumping from windows. But it was the firemen who took the lead in the search and rescue effort, fire control and helping to secure classified material in structurally compromised areas. Creed and Newman provide a minute-by-minute account of operations during the first two days, carrying the story through 9/21 when, with the situation under control, the FBI took charge of the crime scene. This gripping account of national tragedy and personal heroism gives readers a you-are-there look at the disaster that claimed 189, and a real appreciation for the work that kept it from claiming more.