'I cheated death by 30 seconds on 9/11 - but six of my buddies didn't make it'

11 September 2023 , 08:06

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Firefighter Mike Kehoe, who survived 9/11 but lost six of his firemen brothers (Image: Daily Mirror)

Thirty seconds — that was the difference between life and death for firefighter Mike Kehoe, who was one of the thousands of firefighters who responded on what many consider the worst day in American history: 9/11.

And it was during that incredibly short amount of time that Mike lost six of his firemen brothers, who tragically perished in the attack after having raced up the North Tower of the World Trade Center, hoping against all odds to save the souls on the 28th floor, where the first plane had hit minutes prior.

"I was in the office when the first call came in," he recounted to The Mirror on September 14, 2001 — three days after the attack. "We got onto the engine and went down the east side, down the tip of Manhattan and around to the World Trade Center."

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Mike Kehoe interviews with Mirror reporter Andy Lines days after the 9/11 terrorist attacks (Daily Mirror)

The North Tower was smoking when they arrived, but he remembers being unsure as to why. It didn't become clear until minutes later, when the not-so-average call quickly turned into the most horrendous day of Mike's life.

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His crew, Engine 28, parked on Vesey Street, just a block or so north of the North Tower, and made their way to the site, grabbing their rolled-up hoses and equipment, which they quickly began linking to hydrants situated inside the building.

"We went inside the lobby of the tower," he recalled. "It was already a mess, with the elevators and glass blown out. We found the stairwell and started making our way up the building."

Mike Kehoe in 2021, 20 years after losing his brethren in the 9/11 terror attacks (Daily Mirror/Ian Vogler)

Hundreds of people flooded the stairwell, he recalls, but they remained eerily calm as they worked their way down in an orderly fashion. Many told Mike and his firefighter brothers, among whom were the six members of Ladder 11, "good luck" and other well-wishes.

"Even at that stage, I was frightened," he said. But he had his mission, and as scared as he was, he was not about to abandon that, leaving the hundreds on the upper floors of the building stranded. A photographer snapped his picture as he made his way up, and it quickly shot to fame.

Just as Mike arrived on the 28th floor, the second plane hit the South Tower, sending shockwaves through the North Tower where he and his brethren were.

Kehoe had been featured on the front of The Mirror in the days after 9/11 (Daily Mirror/Ian Vogler)

"You could feel it even though it was the other tower," he remembered. Seconds later, his chief told everyone to get out of the building. So, Mike and the members of Engine 28 turned around and raced downstairs, making it to the lobby in just under three minutes, he estimated.

"It was frightening. I left the control bag behind and ran down the stairs with everyone else," he said. "We managed to get to the lobby. It was like Beirut. There was rubble everywhere."

Seconds later, Mike recalls another member of Engine 28 screaming at them all to run, so, without another thought, he and the other five raced out of the lobby and up West Street. But the six members of Ladder 11 stayed put, believing it would be safer for them in the lobby of the building.

Mike Cammarata, Edward Day, John Heffernan, Rich Kelly, Mike Quilty and Matt Rogan died that day.

Mike Kehoe and his wife Edra are raising three boys (Daily Mirror/Ian Vogler)

The South Tower collapsed just as the members of Engine 28 raced outside, sending debris and dust flying up the street in an apocalyptic scene that blanketed everything and everyone in toxic fumes and dust or falling pieces of building that crushed and killed hundreds.

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Mike only managed to hide behind a fire truck with his five brothers mere seconds before the storm swept past them, covering them all in the dust — but leaving them all miraculously alive.

"Another 30 seconds later and I would have been dead," he said, describing the entire scene as a cartoon. He remembers not having a mask, sharing instead with a colleague but breathing in the fumes anyway. He also couldn't see.

The front page of The Mirror featuring Mike Kehoe on Sept. 14, 2001 (Daily Mirror)

The front page of The Mirror featuring Mike Kehoe on Sept. 15, 2001, indicating that he's alive (Daily Mirror)

A "muffling silence" blanketed the area, just like after a snowfall when the white powdery precipitation absorbs noise. After a while, Mike and his team made their way up towards Canal Street, where he was able to phone his wife Edra, who worked as a radiographer at the time and frequently made deliveries to the towers.

Mike had thought Edra was dead and vice versa, but he found out she was at his station, desperately waiting to hear whether or not he had survived. Both had, and they reunited minutes later.

Now, 22 years later, Mike still hasn't returned to Ground Zero, and he doubts he ever will — but he did return to his old fire station two years ago to pay tribute to his fallen brethren and reminisce on the terrible day. He brought Edra and their three sons, two of whom want to become firemen like their dad.

Mike Kehoe attended the Pride of Britain awards in 2002 after being featured on the cover of The Mirror (Daily Mirror)

The 55-year-old lost many friends in the years after the attack to cancer and other injuries or ailments contracted as they worked in the ash of both towers weeks after they collapsed. One was his former boss, Roy Chelsen, who died in 2011 after a long bout with multiple myeloma linked to his work at Ground Zero and the more-than-2,500 contaminants there identified by health experts.

On the day of the attack, 343 firemen lost their lives, and over 100 have died since then after battles with cancer or other illnesses. Over 7,000 are sick, according to the Never Forget Project.

Mike, however, is relatively healthy and still works as a firefighter, serving Rescue 5, a specialist expert unit based in Staten Island and a portion of Brooklyn. He does much of the same work as he did on 9/11, but he's also now trained as a scuba diver.

He told The Mirror he "just love[s]" the work, which his why he opted to continue it instead of retiring or finding safer jobs. Helping others is in his blood.

Andy Lines