One of the first firefighters on the scene of the Florida condominium collapse was struck by the resemblance of the site to New York City's World Trade Center after the September 11 attacks, as revealed in internal audio recordings.
On Tuesday, the death toll stood at 11 confirmed fatalities, with 150 people still missing, as the agonizing search for survivors at Champlain Towers in Surfside entered its sixth day.
The 12-story Champlain Towers South Condo building partially collapsed in the early hours of Thursday, drawing a large contingent of firefighters to the scene, including Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Engine 76.
Internal calls obtained by NBC Miami reveal that firefighters immediately jumped into action to organize a response to the emergency, including requesting Technical Rescue Teams and arranging evacuations of survivors from units that did not crumble.
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Crews work in the rubble of Champlain Towers South condo on Tuesday, six days after the collapse. Internal audio reveals one of the first firefighters on the scene likened the site to the World Trade Center after the 9/11 attack
Eleven people have been confirmed dead and 150 remained missing as the search continued
Rescuers are using bucket brigades and heavy machinery as they work atop a precarious mound of pulverized concrete, twisted steel and the remnants of dozens of households
'A quarter of the building is left, we still have people standing upstairs that still need to be evacuated,' one firefighters says on a call. 'We are going to need a full TRT assignment.'
The audio recordings also offer a glimpse into the firefighters' first impressions of the disaster site.
'I see many people are the balconies. There's no elevators. The building is gone,' says an Engine 76 firefighter. 'There are no elevators. It almost resembles the Trade Center.'
Anther firefighter from Engine 44 says that some survivors have likened the sound of the collapse to 'a bomb' going off.
Firefighters can be heard giving instructions to their colleagues on how to approach the partially pancaked building.
'Pull up to the light and stop. We need to contain this whole area,' one first responder says. 'This building does not look stable.'
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue was the first on the scene of the partial collapse on the morning of June 24. A retired assistant fire chief said first responders saved lives of residents and colleagues alike by preventing people from 'going rogue'
This handout video grab taken from a video posted by the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue shows firefighters working in the basement parking garage at Champlain Towers after the partial collapse of the building in Surfside, north of Miami Beach
Firefighters battle a blaze as rescue workers search debris at the 12-story oceanfront condo, Champlain Towers South on Friday. No survivors have been pulled from the rubbed since hours after the collapse
Retired City of Miami assistant fire chief Pete Gomez told the station that what he heard on the calls saved not only the lives of many residents, but also those of first responders who were kept from 'going rogue' and charging into the unstable building.
'These folks want to go in there and they want to start working and that incident commander, Battalion One and Engine 76 at the beginning, you can tell that they were gaining control of the scene and not allowing people to go rogue because you could have lost firefighters,' Gomez said.
Meanwhile, the search for survivors has been slow and deliberate, leaving family members desperate for answers.
'We have people waiting and waiting and waiting for news,' Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava told reporters. 'We have them coping with the news that they might not have their loved ones come out alive and still hope against hope that they will. They’re learning that some of their loved ones will come out as body parts. This is the kind of information that is just excruciating for everyone.'
Thunderstorms rolled through the area Tuesday morning, and debris fell onto the search area overnight from the shattered edge of the part of the building that still stands. That forced rescuers to mark a 'don’t go beyond here' line and focus their efforts parts of the debris pile that are farther from the structure, Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett told Miami television station WSVN.
Also Tuesday, the White House announced that President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden would travel to Surfside on Thursday.
Rescuers are using bucket brigades and heavy machinery as they work atop a precarious mound of pulverized concrete, twisted steel and the remnants of dozens of households. The efforts include firefighters, sniffer dogs and search experts using radar and sonar devices.
Authorities said it’s still a search-and-rescue operation, but no one has been found alive since hours after the collapse on Thursday.
The building collapsed just days before a deadline for condo owners to start making steep payments toward more than $9million in repairs that had been recommended nearly three years earlier, in a report that warned of 'major structural damage.'
