Fire warden's hat

Description: Fire wardens in the World Trade Center were issued special hats to make them easily identified in an emergency.

Context: Fire and emergency training is especially important in a high-rise building. As part of his job, Michael Hurley, World Trade Center Fire Director, distributed hats, whistles, and flashlights to all the building floor wardens and was responsible for developing and implementing emergency training procedures.

On September 11, Hurley considered staying home to walk his son to the first day of kindergarten, but his wife thought it might make the boy even more nervous. Instead, Hurley went to work, and he soon had to deal with the disaster of a lifetime. As the liaison to the fire department, he worked side by side with the chief in the Fire Command Center in the lobby of the north tower, providing information on stairway configurations, evacuations, and firefighting resources.

As the situation worsened, Hurley was directed to seek a new site for the command center. He was in this location, away from the north tower when it collapsed.

Currently not on view