SARA KUGLER
Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK, New York (AP) -- The man who directed emergency operations during the World Trade Center attacks stepped down Thursday as head of the city's Office of Emergency Management.
Richard Sheirer was coordinating evacuations, rescues and triage as the twin towers collapsed Sept. 11, calling for harbor and air protection, and shutting down the streets of lower Manhattan. In the months since, Sheirer has directed the massive recovery and cleanup operation at the site.
``We did what you do always - you adapt,'' said Sheirer, 55, standing on a ramp leading into the seven-story pit at ground zero. ``We took all the planning we had done for coastal storms, for bioterrorism, for all hazards, our experience with water mains, with fires, with collapses, and we used every bit of that experience to deal with this.''
Former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani tapped Sheirer in February 2000, when snowstorms and water main breaks were considered emergencies. Before the terror attacks, Sheirer's most intense day as director was a July 2000 explosion and building collapse that killed three people.
``Richard Sheirer is one of my heroes,'' Giuliani said. ``He's one of the people I relied on the most in getting the city through Sept. 11.''
Sheirer, a former fire department dispatcher who rose through its ranks before becoming police department chief of staff, lost dozens of friends in the attacks.
His eyes still well with tears when friends' remains are found. A stout man with a round face and big glasses, he embraces firefighters, one after another, when he goes to ground zero.
Slowly however, New York's emergency services are regrouping. The first of 86 firetrucks ordered to replace those lost Sept. 11 was delivered to a downtown firehouse on Thursday.
The 100-foot aerial ladder truck, painted with a fluttering American flag and the image of a firefighter raising a flag at ground zero, was commissioned for Ladder Company 10. The company and Engine 10, which were among the first to respond to the attacks, lost four firefighters and its vehicles when the twin towers collapsed.
As for Sheirer, he plans to join Giuliani as a consultant on public safety issues. Mayor Michael Bloomberg has not yet named his successor.
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