This is the first in a series of excerpts from interviews with Ground Zero construction workers several months after 9/11. Most of the men, and one woman, had been working on the site since hours after the attacks. Like many construction workers, Bob Bartels, Jr., an ironworker, realized his skills were needed and just showed up ready to work.
Bob Bartels (lightly edited):When we got here, everybody was just in shock. It was just a horrible sight. We had the acetylene tanks that were coming off, and the oxygen tanks were coming off and we just grabbed, put a set together, walked out and asked a fireman: “Where do we need to burn?” We started burning. We stayed on West Street for a few days. We found a Suburban that was probably, maybe no more than 18 inches high, crushed. We worked with Rescue Three from the Bronx, trying to free all the steel from on top of that because they thought one of their firemen was in the truck. Probably about 18 hours a day we did nothing but burn steel and remove steel. I mean the time goes. You think you’re there a couple of hours and it’s 12 to 14 hours that have passed. (More)