By TOM DOWNEY
c.2001 Tom Downey
From The New York Times Magazine, Sept. 23, 2001

Lincoln Quappe, a firefighter who worked for three years for Rescue Two in Brooklyn, is among the missing. He spoke with Tom Downey in March. These are Quappe's words.

"The rescue companies are the eyes and ears for everyone. If you get a report of people trapped, then we'll spearhead our attack up to that particular area. And maybe be able to control the fire enough to warn the guys upstairs that it's really getting bad here, and maybe it's time for them to get out. At Rescue Two, our main duty is looking out for the safety of all the firemen. Really that's what we're there for. And we've shown time and time again that when there's a fireman hurt, we'll drop everything and get him.

"Being a fireman's fireman comes with experience. I still have so much to learn. I only have 16 years on the job. At Rescue Two, I felt like a probie all over again. I found that some of the most unassuming guys are the most fantastic firemen. They're always there at the right time, they're always in position, and in the heat of battle, they never shy away. It comes from years on the job. Part of it is instinct. All the guys here at Rescue Two are firemen's firemen. It's something you feel when you work with them.

"When you're in a fire, things are running through your brain a million times a minute, and you're just trying to do your job. In those situations you look back at your experience. You think, I got burnt the last time I stayed around in this situation. I won't let that happen to me again. You go by all the telltale signs and from what other firemen have told you. Guys say, Listen, we saw this happen. We talk about fires all the time. We're constantly learning, learning every day, and even in a mundane fire you learn something, and you're like, Oh, man, I didn't know that. Or I forgot about that, but now it's reinforced in my mind. I've been burnt before so I have an idea of how much heat I can take. But you still get burnt, because you still have to continue to do what you have to do. The heat comes onto you. It's tremendous up there on the fire floor. You feel it around the side of your mask. You pull off your glove a little bit, and you can feel it.

"Every fire is scary. That's the way it is. You're a damned liar if you say you're not scared. It's hard to say which fires are most dangerous. Each is completely different. Some fires that seem small can be the most horrific with firemen dying. Even a silly little fire can get a guy killed. It all comes down to fate. But there are signs that you can pick up on at a fire when it's getting bad. I don't have all the answers, but I have an idea when it's time to go. I use other guys in my company as barometers. Ill be in contact with my guys. I know what they look like as far as body features. I hear them on the radio. If Bobby says it's time to get out, I'm going. I use him as my guardian angel, because I know he's seen a lot of things in the past. The captain too. If the captain says, We're getting out of here, I'm going. I don't want to die here."

(Tom Downey is a filmmaker who is producing a television documentary about rescue firefighters in New York. Their chief, Raymond Downey, the writer's uncle, is presumed lost.)