Brian Clark
Encyclopedia
Brian Clark is one of the survivors of the attacks on the World Trade Center
on September 11, 2001
. A Canadian, Clark worked for the international brokerage firm Euro Brokers, which lost 61 employees that day, nearly a fifth of its New York branch.
Clark was one of only four people in the South Tower to escape from a floor above the plane's impact. No one escaped above the impact point in the North Tower. Clark's testimony before the 9/11 Commission
, where he detailed problems with the 911 emergency call system
, has been widely quoted.
Clark turned on his fire-warden flashlight and gathered his remaining colleagues, a party of seven. They started down one of the three stairwells. When they got to the 81st floor they encountered two people who were trying to ascend to the roof, where they thought they could get fresher air. The pair of people ascending from the lower floor described the stairs as impassable, blocked by fire and smoke. They tried to convince Clark's party to join them in climbing higher. Those reaching the top floor would have encountered locked doors barring access to the roof (and in any case smoke and heat prevented any helicopter rescue from the roof) and were killed when the tower collapsed.
Some of the drywall
that was supposed to enclose the stairwell had fallen away, so Clark and his co-worker Ron Di Francesco left the others to seek out that voice. Di Francesco was soon overcome by smoke and returned to the stairway by himself.
Stanley Praimnath
had been buried under some fallen debris. With Clark's help he was able to extricate himself, and when they returned to the stairwell, the others were already gone, so Clark and Praimnath elected to descend instead of heading upward after them. According to an interview with both of them in a special documentary aired in 2005, Praimnath was so grateful that Clark had rescued him, that he hugged and kissed his savior, rather surprising Clark.
The airliner that struck the North Tower struck it perpendicular to the north face, its impact severing all the elevators and all three stairwells. The airliner that struck the South Tower struck at an angle. It severed two stairwells but left Stairway A, the one they were using, more or less intact.
A few floors below the impact, they encountered one of Clark's colleagues, José Marrero, ascending and using a walkie-talkie
. Marrero had received a call from another of Clark's colleagues above, David Vera, saying his party needed help. Clark tried to convince his colleague not to ascend but Marrero insisted on going higher to help Vera and the others.
At the Skylobby
on the 44th floor Clark and Praimnath encountered a Port Authority
employee, who was tending to a severely injured tenant. He told them that all the phones were out on that floor. He asked them, when they had access to a working phone, to have someone send an EMT
to care for this injured tenant.
The phones were working in Oppenheimer's offices on the 31st floor. Clark was on the telephone for over three minutes before his 911
call was understood. This call might have been the only chance for rescue workers to learn that there was a clear stairwell that the several hundred people trapped above the impact could try to use to escape.
Clark described how he and Praimnath did not feel a sense of urgency, and before calling 911 they each made one brief personal call.
When they got to the ground floor there were rescue workers, and one advised them to run, once they exited onto Liberty Street on the south side of the complex.
Clark described how, when they had gotten about two blocks away, Praimnath told him he thought the buildings were going to go. Clark was skeptical, repeating how solidly built the towers were, but he did not finish his sentence before Tower Two started to collapse.
But Clark, in turn, also thanked Praimnath since he felt that the act of going and freeing Praimnath drew him out of a debate that might have ended with him joining the others who went up to their deaths. His Euro Brokers colleague Ron DiFrancesco, who had initially turned around because of the smoke, mustered the strength to resume the descent, and was one of the last people to escape the South tower before its collapse; he awoke three days later in hospital, suffering from extensive burns and a head laceration. All told, they were among only four people who managed to escape from above the impact zone in Tower 2. Richard Fern, a Euro Brokers IT manager, was the fourth.
An additional fourteen escaped from the impact zone itself, mostly from the upper sky lobby which bore the brunt of the impact and left scores dead.
Sixty-one of Clark's co-workers were killed in the incident. Clark was later appointed by his company's management to be President of the Euro Brokers Relief Fund, created to help take financial care of the families of those who were lost. He retired in 2006, a year after Euro Brokers merged with another company.
World Trade Center
The original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...
on September 11, 2001
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
. A Canadian, Clark worked for the international brokerage firm Euro Brokers, which lost 61 employees that day, nearly a fifth of its New York branch.
Clark was one of only four people in the South Tower to escape from a floor above the plane's impact. No one escaped above the impact point in the North Tower. Clark's testimony before the 9/11 Commission
9/11 Commission
The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, also known as the 9/11 Commission, was set up on November 27, 2002, "to prepare a full and complete account of the circumstances surrounding the September 11, 2001 attacks", including preparedness for and the immediate response to...
, where he detailed problems with the 911 emergency call system
9-1-1
9-1-1 is the emergency telephone number for the North American Numbering Plan .It is one of eight N11 codes.The use of this number is for emergency circumstances only, and to use it for any other purpose can be a crime.-History:In the earliest days of telephone technology, prior to the...
, has been widely quoted.
Second impact
The second impact occurred at 9:03 a.m. just a few floors below Clark's floor.Clark turned on his fire-warden flashlight and gathered his remaining colleagues, a party of seven. They started down one of the three stairwells. When they got to the 81st floor they encountered two people who were trying to ascend to the roof, where they thought they could get fresher air. The pair of people ascending from the lower floor described the stairs as impassable, blocked by fire and smoke. They tried to convince Clark's party to join them in climbing higher. Those reaching the top floor would have encountered locked doors barring access to the roof (and in any case smoke and heat prevented any helicopter rescue from the roof) and were killed when the tower collapsed.
Rescue of Stanley Praimnath
Clark was called out of this debate when he heard a voice calling for help.Some of the drywall
Drywall
Drywall, also known as plasterboard, wallboard or gypsum board is a panel made of gypsum plaster pressed between two thick sheets of paper...
that was supposed to enclose the stairwell had fallen away, so Clark and his co-worker Ron Di Francesco left the others to seek out that voice. Di Francesco was soon overcome by smoke and returned to the stairway by himself.
Stanley Praimnath
Stanley Praimnath
Stanley Praimnath is a survivor of the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11th, 2001. Praimnath worked as an executive for Fuji Bank on the 81st floor of the South Tower, the second to be attacked...
had been buried under some fallen debris. With Clark's help he was able to extricate himself, and when they returned to the stairwell, the others were already gone, so Clark and Praimnath elected to descend instead of heading upward after them. According to an interview with both of them in a special documentary aired in 2005, Praimnath was so grateful that Clark had rescued him, that he hugged and kissed his savior, rather surprising Clark.
Descent
Clark and Praimnath's descent through the floors of the impact was impeded by some debris and smoke, but by removing the debris, it was passable.The airliner that struck the North Tower struck it perpendicular to the north face, its impact severing all the elevators and all three stairwells. The airliner that struck the South Tower struck at an angle. It severed two stairwells but left Stairway A, the one they were using, more or less intact.
A few floors below the impact, they encountered one of Clark's colleagues, José Marrero, ascending and using a walkie-talkie
Walkie-talkie
A walkie-talkie is a hand-held, portable, two-way radio transceiver. Its development during the Second World War has been variously credited to Donald L. Hings, radio engineer Alfred J. Gross, and engineering teams at Motorola...
. Marrero had received a call from another of Clark's colleagues above, David Vera, saying his party needed help. Clark tried to convince his colleague not to ascend but Marrero insisted on going higher to help Vera and the others.
At the Skylobby
Skylobby
A sky lobby is an intermediate floor where people can change from an express elevator that stops only at the sky lobby to a local elevator which stops at every floor within a segment of the building...
on the 44th floor Clark and Praimnath encountered a Port Authority
Port authority
In Canada and the United States a port authority is a governmental or quasi-governmental public authority for a special-purpose district usually formed by a legislative body to operate ports and other transportation infrastructure.Port authorities are usually governed by boards or...
employee, who was tending to a severely injured tenant. He told them that all the phones were out on that floor. He asked them, when they had access to a working phone, to have someone send an EMT
Emergency medical technician
Emergency Medical Technician or Ambulance Technician are terms used in some countries to denote a healthcare provider of emergency medical services...
to care for this injured tenant.
The phones were working in Oppenheimer's offices on the 31st floor. Clark was on the telephone for over three minutes before his 911
9-1-1
9-1-1 is the emergency telephone number for the North American Numbering Plan .It is one of eight N11 codes.The use of this number is for emergency circumstances only, and to use it for any other purpose can be a crime.-History:In the earliest days of telephone technology, prior to the...
call was understood. This call might have been the only chance for rescue workers to learn that there was a clear stairwell that the several hundred people trapped above the impact could try to use to escape.
Clark described how he and Praimnath did not feel a sense of urgency, and before calling 911 they each made one brief personal call.
When they got to the ground floor there were rescue workers, and one advised them to run, once they exited onto Liberty Street on the south side of the complex.
Clark described how, when they had gotten about two blocks away, Praimnath told him he thought the buildings were going to go. Clark was skeptical, repeating how solidly built the towers were, but he did not finish his sentence before Tower Two started to collapse.
Aftermath
Praimnath thanked Clark for saving his life.But Clark, in turn, also thanked Praimnath since he felt that the act of going and freeing Praimnath drew him out of a debate that might have ended with him joining the others who went up to their deaths. His Euro Brokers colleague Ron DiFrancesco, who had initially turned around because of the smoke, mustered the strength to resume the descent, and was one of the last people to escape the South tower before its collapse; he awoke three days later in hospital, suffering from extensive burns and a head laceration. All told, they were among only four people who managed to escape from above the impact zone in Tower 2. Richard Fern, a Euro Brokers IT manager, was the fourth.
An additional fourteen escaped from the impact zone itself, mostly from the upper sky lobby which bore the brunt of the impact and left scores dead.
Sixty-one of Clark's co-workers were killed in the incident. Clark was later appointed by his company's management to be President of the Euro Brokers Relief Fund, created to help take financial care of the families of those who were lost. He retired in 2006, a year after Euro Brokers merged with another company.