Sample B

“B” = Good paper, 40 to 45 points:
The paper demonstrates strong writing ability. It is solid in content, organization, development,
and style. The addresses important points and includes key events and dates. The essay contain
minor flaws, but they are neither serious nor frequent. The writer exhibits clear control of
language and general facility of diction, phrasing and sentence structure. Overall, the writing is
solid.

Note: This paper got a 45 out of a possible 50 points
This book report is on the novel Last Man Down: A New York City Fire Chief and the
Collapse of the World Trade Center written by Richard Picciotto and Daniel Palsner. Richard
Picciotto is re-telling his personal experience during the tragedy that occurred on September 11,
2001 as a New York City Fire Chief. This may be the first book Picciotto has written, but is able
to give the personal accounts what a Fire Chief went through on that tragic day. He is also able
to include that hardships other city firefighters had to go through also as he came in contact with
them the whole entire day and months after the collapse. He is one of the few qualified to write
a novel about the pain and suffering hundreds of people had to go through that day, especially of
those who were unfortunate to be buried under thousands of pound of mangled steel and
concrete.
I learned a lot of interesting things that went on that tragic day, but I’d have to say the
most important thing that I learned from ready this book is the importance of leadership. Not
just the importance of leadership within the fire department, but the ability to step up as a true
leader and be able to take control of such a tragic situation that could have taken more lives than
it did if it wasn’t for that true leadership. I found this very interesting because it’s amazing how
a single person can just take control and plan out a well orchestrated evacuation plan that in
return save the lives of many of those that were in the North Tower than unfortunate day. I’d
have to say it was kind of hard to stay interested as far as the style the novel was written, but I
really wanted to find out how he and the other firefighters with him survived the collapse. It was
more of an interest for the facts than the actual story telling. The following is my report on the
novel Last Man Down: A New York City Fire Chief and the Collapse of the World Trade Center
by Richard Picciotto and Daniel Palsner. Published by The Berkley Publishing Group in New
York, New York in 2002. The novel re-tells Chief Piciotto’s experiences on September 11,
2001 and I will be outlining what I think were the most important parts of the book chapter by
chapter.
Chapter 1
Chapter one begins with Chief Richard Piccioto giving a brief description of the day this
whole novel is about, September 11, 2001. There was no other way to put it other that it was a
beautiful day that killed us as it was a clear day with a high sun and a visibility that went forever.
He lived in Chester, New York with his wife Debbie, son Stephen and daughter Lisa. His wife
was an obstetrical nurse at St. Luke’s Hospital; his son went to a private Catholic high school in
New Jersey while his daughter was a senior at Pace University in lower Manhattan. Chief
Piccioto arrived to work that day as Battalion Chief 11 of 7 companies in New York at around 8
o’clock in the morning. He looked over Engine Co. 37, Ladder Co. 40, Engine Co. 47, Engine
Co. 74, Ladder Co. 25, Engine Co. 76, and Ladder Co. 22. At about quarter to 9 his station
received a call from the intercom telling them to turn on their television to channel 7 to see that
the North Tower of the World Trade Center had been hit by an airplane. Chief Picciotto
immediately calls dispatch and informs them about his experience of the attempt in 1993 and that
he was ready to go assist, but dispatch tells him to stay put. A little while later they see on the
television that the South Tower also got hit by another airplane so he once again calls dispatch
this time with success as he is given the okay to go assist.

Chapter 2
Chief Picciotto then teams up with who he thinks is one of the best engineers he’s known
Gary Sheridon to drive him down to the North Tower. The other firefighters want to join the
Chief, but protocol says that they can’t join until they get called out in an alarm. On the way to
the tower they Chief tried to think like a terrorist and figure out what other place can be attacked
such as the George Washington Bridge and the Brooklyn tunnels. When they arrived they pulled
up on West Street catty-corner of the World Trade Center which coincidentally was the same
place he parked during the attack of 1993. The Chief grabbed a flashlight and bullhorn and ran
into the North Tower as he dodged the bodies of people who had desperately jumped from the
tower in desperation. Sadly enough the first firefighter to die that day was Lieutenant Danny
Suhr of Engine 216 as he was struck by falling women. Once inside the tower, the Chief
grabbed Truck Co. 110 from the command post within the tower and headed up to floors 21 and
25 as they were told there were people trapped on those floors.
Chapter 3
This chapter begins with the layout of the stairwells in both the South and North towers.
They each had 3 stairwells that were located in a “T” formation. Stairwell A was at the southeast
corner of the North Tower while stairwell C was at the southwest corner. Stairwell B was in the
center of the tower. Both A and C went as low as the mezzanine level where they connected
with stairwell B that lead down to the lobby. Chief decided to take the elevator because the guys
from truck 110 had all of their gear which added an extra 70 to 100 pounds despite the warning
from fellow Battalion Chief John Paolillo. They took the elevator to the 16 th floor and walked
the rest of the way to the 21 st floor through stairwell C. When they reached the 21 st floor it was
already clear so they continued to the 25 th floor. When they arrived there was already another
firefighter crew clearing out the floor. Chief Picciotto then decided to head up higher on his own
because he wasn’t carrying any gear so he told the lieutenant from truck 110 that he would meet
them up on the fire floor. When he reached the 35 th floor he noticed that it was a staging area for
rescue workers so he went in to see what was going on.
Chapter 4
While on the 35 th floor there was an unexplainable thunder outside that shook everybody
up. Chief Picciotto got a radio transmitting that the South tower had collapsed. He then had to
make crucial decision whether to fight or flight, but he had to think about the other firefighters
with him on the floor so he called out for an immediate evacuation of the North tower. The
Chief made himself the tail end of the evacuation as he performed a plan search of every floor as
he started at stairwell C and went across to A then went to B where he doubled back and went
down stairwell C. When they reached the 31 st floor a port authority that was in the group had
taken into custody a Middle Eastern guy in a nice suit because he seemed suspicious. He was the
only civilian on the higher floors long after the airplane had hit the tower. As they made it down
to the 27 th floor Chief Picciotto saw a guy still typing away at his computer like normal. The
Chief then shouted to the guy to evacuate immediately, but after the guy ignored the orders he
ran in a forced the guy out of the room and into the staircase with everyone else.
Chapter 5
All of those evacuating came to an abrupt stop at the 16 th floor due to debris blocking the
stairwell. The Chief ran over to stairwell A, but it was also full with debris so they had to go
down stairwell B. They then noticed a room on the 12 th floor that was full of civilians. There
were about 60 of them waiting to get escorted as they were all either too tired to continue or they
had some sort of disability. The Chief remembers Josephine Harris a 59 year old grandmother

from Brooklyn being the last one out of the room because she set the pace for him and Ladder
Co. 6
Chapter 6
As the Chief made his way down to the lower floors there was another loud sound almost
like the one he heard when the South tower collapsed. He described it as being caught in an
avalanche during a hellish tornado while trapped in a wind tunnel all beneath a crashing tsunami
with no hope of escape. The Chief quickly realized what the sound meant and began to run
down the staircase to catch up the rest of the firefighters. The rumbling caused him to pause on a
landing between the 6 th and 7 th floor where he was struck by a blunt object on the head knocking
his helmet off. He tried getting back up, but the landing gave way and began to fall with him on
top of it. When the landing finally stopped he though he was dead because he was still very
weary, but he came to his senses and realized he was fine with no major injuries trapped in a
void space under debris. He yelled out to see if anyone could hear him, but there was no
response.
Chapter 7
Just as the Chief thought he was all alone he yelled out again and got a response from
several people around him. When he realized they were fellow firefighters he began a roll call.
It consisted of Mickey Kross, Lieutenant of Co. 16, Jim Mcglynn , Lieutenant of Co. 39, Jay
Jonas, Captain of Co. 6 along with firefighters: Rob Bacon, Jeff Coniglio, Jim Efthimiaddes, Bill
Buttler, Tom Falco, Mike Meldrum, Sal D’Agostino and Matt Komorowski. Josephine Harris
was also trapped with Jay Jonas and crew. David Lim a Port Authority was trapped below him.
The last voice to call in was that of Battalion Chief Richard Prunty over the radio, he had the
most serious of the injuries as he fell further down than everyone else. Chief Picciotto realized
he had fallen about 40 feet as he could see the number 2 on the wall indicating they were on the
second floor. He, Jim McGlynn and Rob Bacon tried breaking into the door on the second floor,
but the office space was full of debris. Chief Picciotto writes that he later found out that Jay
Jonas made contact with Deputy Nick Visconti who was in charge of a command on West and
Vesey streets while they were trapped and tried to come up with a rescue plan.
Chapter 8
While being trapped the Chief began making mayday calls over the radio when he was
finally answered by Mark Ferran a Chief out of Battalion 12. He had gone to help out in
whatever he could being that it was his day off. The Chief informed Mark that he along with
other firefighters were trapped in stairwell B of the North Tower. Mark teamed up with Ladder
Co. 43 to try and find the stairwell, but there was no possible way any of them knowing where it
was due to the amount of debris in the city. Matt Long, John Colon, Jerry Sunden, Todd
Frederickson, Mike Regan, Frank Macchia, Jim Lanza, Tom Corrigan and Mark Ferran all tried
finding out where the stairwell was, but they had no idea. They then ran into another firefighter
from Truck Co. 18 who had an idea where it was. He lead them into a Borders bookstore on the
corner of Vesey and Church which was suppose to lead them to an escalator up top the main
plaza of the World Trade Center. When they arrive where the escalator was suppose to be all
they saw was a giant hole. All Mark could do then was get on the radio and tell the Chief that
they still cant find a way to them, but that they were coming.
Chapter 9
In this chapter Chief Picciotto tells us that he use to be police officer before being a
firefighter. He was on the force for 2 years, but got laid off due to a financial freeze. That’s
when he realized he wanted to be a firefighter. While being trapped under the rubble Port

Authority David Lim shouted that he was being soaked by jet fuel, but no one else could smell or
feel it, but it still raised some concern between them. Chief Picciotto then noticed a small light
appearing above them and it became larger. He realized that as the smoke began to settle, it had
made way to the sunlight to shine through a hole that was there the whole time. The first thing
he does is he gets on the radio and tells Mark that he can see a hole above them now, but still has
no directional sense of where he is at.
Chapter 10
Now with more visibility of the whole Chief Picciotto decides to get to the hole. He
makes a stop where Jay Jonas is trapped and he tells the Chief that there is an elevator shaft they
can go down on, but the Chief continues his way up to the hole. When the Chief finally made it
out he realized the he was still on high unstable ground far away from safety. He gets on the
radio and tells Mark that he has made it out of the debris and sounds the bullhorn to see if Mark
can hear it. Mark replies that he could hear it, but that it was still close to impossible to get to
them. Mike Meldrum, Sal D’Agostino, Tom Falco, Matt Komorowski, Bill Buttler, David Lim,
Mickey Kross and Jay Jonas followed the Chief to the hole. They then used a cell phone Bill
Buttler had to call their family and let them know they were okay. The Chief didn’t want to
worry his wife so he tried calling other fire departments instead, but couldn’t get through.
Chapter 11
The Chief and the other guys got tired of waiting for help so they planed a way to get to
safety. That’s when they see a helmet in the distance and they use the bullhorn to get the
person’s attention. It turned out to be Mark and the crew from Ladder Co. 43. The Chief
decided to wait a little longer to see if they would arrive, but they couldn’t get past the debris so
he began in journey down to safety. Half way through the debris the Chief noticed that the crew
from Ladder 43 had finally reached the hole to help the other firefighters still trapped in the
collapse. He finally made it out of the rubble by the old Vista Hotel on West street to find more
firefighters just standing around. The Chief tried telling a staff chief that there were more
firefighters trapped, but the staff chief told him that the department wasn’t sending out anymore
men. Word got out to the volunteer fire department by Chief Picciotto’s house that he was okay
and they went to his house to inform the family. The only one there to receive the good new was
his son Stephen. Chief Picciotto was finally able to get a crew led by Battalion Chief John Salka
to go and help the firefighters that were still trapped. He stayed on the radio a while to help with
the rescue, but he was eventually taken to St. Vincent’s Hospital for treatment. Everyone
involved in the collapse of stairwell B was able to get to safety under their own power after
getting rescued except for Josephine Harris who was taken out in a Stokes basket and Battalion
Chief Richard Prunty who was found dead. While in the hospital the Chief finally got a hold of
his wife around 8 in the evening. During the conversation he told her that he was done. That he
wasn’t going back to work. He finished the book by saying that he might have told his wife he
was done, but he wasn’t done yet. He was still the Chief and he had widows to call and brothers
to comfort.
The story itself was a very interesting story, but the way it was written was very cut dry.
There wasn’t much emotion or drama that could have been included with a story like this. I
think it might have the fact that it was written by a firefighter, but even though he went through
all this himself. It just seems like a lot was left out that could have made the novel much better.
He kept saying that there want much conversation while they all trapped under the rubble and
that no one showed any emotions. I don’t know if this is truth or he just said that to make the

firefighters along with himself seem brave and heroic. I’m sure there a lot of those guy’s
emotions were all over the place. I mean they were still alive after the collapse of a 110 story
building, there had to be more than what was written. The ending of the novel was also pretty
dry. It he just states that everyone made it out okay and that they went to the hospital. I’m sure
there was a lot more that occurred from the time they began finding their way to safety till the
time they were taken to the hospital. The novel lacked the emotional sense that would have
turned into one of just interesting facts to one that could have been very touching to those who
read it.
The one good thing about the book was all the informational facts and events that were
presented during the novel. It gave the reader a sense of what actually happened on that tragic
day. It also showed the hardships that many firefighters along with the city’s residence had to go
through. I didn’t know that the rubble had fallen so far from the actual site of the two towers
causing the rescue missions to be so difficult. This was one of the major difficulties Mark and
the guys from Ladder 43 had. They just couldn’t determine which part of the debris was part of
the North Tower let alone where stairwell B was. It brought closer to the reality of that dreaded
day.
Id like to conclude by stating that it was an overall good book in regards to the author
trying to get his story out, but it could have used more of the emotional factor. IIt was kind of
like reading an incident report he might have written with all the facts. I probably won’t read
this book again just because I already got the facts from it and it didn’t get my attention as far as
the flow. I would recommend it, but only as an informational book and not as leisurely read. I
guess in the end it would be extremely difficult to try and sugar coat this story seeing its severity.
I did love the way it portrayed the true actions of leadership and how with strength and total
determination a leader and overcome any obstacle put in the way. I would like to commend
Chief Richard Picciotto for being able to put his near death experience into a book. It would be
extremely hard for most people to relive something he went through.