His name was Orio Palmer. If you don’t recognize the name, you’re probably not alone, but hopefully after reading this you’ll never forget it. Palmer was a battalion chief of the New York City Fire Department on Sept. 11, 2001.
On that fateful day, Palmer answered the call that the South Tower of the World Trade Center had been impacted by a plane. As heroes often do, Orio and his fellow firefighters ran to the trouble while most others were understandably trying to escape it.
As the fires burned on the 78th floor of the tower, Palmer and the other heroes started their trek to fight them. They took the still functioning elevator to the 41st floor. Then, they made their journey up. They reached the 50th floor. Carrying over 50 pounds of gear, they made their way to the 60th floor. There was a reason this man was the battalion chief. He was the first FDNY member to be receive the department’s physical fitness award five times. He kept climbing higher. He made it to the 70th floor. Then, he continued upward, reaching the impact zone on the 78th floor of the South Tower. He got on the radio; his breath was laboring somewhat but he was calm. There was no fear and no panic. This is what he and they trained for and they did their jobs bravely and selflessly.
At 9:52 AM, he radioed in, “Battalion Seven … Ladder 15, we’ve got two isolated pockets of fire. We should be able to knock it down with two lines. Radio that, 78th floor numerous 10-45 Code Ones [Deceased].”
At 9:56, they encountered two fires in stairwells A and B. Then, at 9:59, the building gave way. Judging by their actions and radio transmissions, Palmer and the other heroes perished, never anticipating the building would collapse.
There is a somewhat ironic sadness about the loss of Palmer and the others. They reached their destination and were poised to fight and win this battle. I have no doubt that they would have succeeded had the building not given way.
The steel and concrete of 110 stories of a building failed that day. Palmer’s gear didn’t fail him. His lungs and heart never failed him. His legs and will never failed him.
The building failed and Palmer didn’t, and that fact alone says so much about this hero.
As you reflect on this anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001, and pause to remember all the beautiful souls we lost that day, please take a moment to honor the brave and courageous Battalion Chief Orio Palmer. Rest in peace, Chief — you served your department and your country extremely well and your bravery will never be forgotten.
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