When Todd Smith transferred to FDNY Rescue 1 in July 2001, he was still a young firefighter eager to learn at one of the department’s most demanding companies.

Less than two months later, 11 members of Rescue 1 would be killed at the World Trade Center, leaving Smith and the company’s surviving members with the unimaginable task of mourning their brothers while rebuilding the highly skilled company and responding to call between their work in the recovery efforts.

Smith, now a lieutenant at Rescue 4, still carries the lessons of those men with him.

He had about five years on the job when he got word of an opening at the Manhattan-based rescue company. He interviewed with Capt. Terry Hatton in March and Hatton asked him to reach back out after he got married early in the summer.

The day after he returned from his honeymoon, Smith called Hatton and a few days later, Lt. Dennis Mojica called Smith and said Hatton gave him an opportunity to join Rescue 1.

He arrived knowing he had much to learn about a company whose responsibilities included every discipline of firefighting and rescue, adding that those assigned to rescue companies come to work with a strong level of mental preparation and focus.

“We were just hungry. Hungry to get better and be challenged," Smith told Firehouse.com.

Hatton, he said, deliberately blended experienced firefighters with younger members who could be developed into the next generation of rescue firefighters.

“He was looking to mold us into future rescue firefighters.”

Fate: Working the day before

Smith worked the day tour on Sept. 10 and an overtime opening developed for that night.

Smith, as the younger member, would ordinarily would have been available to fill it. Instead, Hatton offered the spot Gary Geidel, who was nearing retirement.

That seemingly routine decision kept Smith from being at Rescue 1 when the company responded to the World Trade Center the next morning.

Geidel would perish at the World Trade Center.

The day of the attacks

On Sept. 11, Smith planned to spend the day studying for a promotion. His wife was at work when she called and told him to turn on the television about the new unfolding in Manhattan.

“I put the TV on, I grabbed my keys and I was out the door.”

Smith raced into Manhattan and reached Rescue 1’s quarters where other off-duty members arrived. He grabbed his gear and drove and headed toward the World Trade Center, leaving his wife's car on the side of the road.

He joined several other members who drove into Manhattan, heading toward Rescue 1’s apparatus when he saw an SCBA left on an engine.

Firefighter Jack Lally spotted the collapse while Smith was looking down, connecting his facepiece to an SCBA he grabbed from an engine on West Street.

“When I look up, Jack Lally's chest is now in my face and he’s like, ‘It’s coming down,'" Smith said. “He saved my life.”

The off-duty members of Resue 1 spent the ensuing hours searching voids and assisting with rescue efforts.

He was among the scores of responders who worked to free Port Authority Police Department Sgt. John McLoughlin, who was trapped beneath the rubble. McLoughlin's story was told in the movie "World Trade Center."

“I remember talking to him, saying, ‘You’re doing good, man. There’s a lot of guys. We’re going to get you out.’”

They worked for several hours, crawling into the tight void, digging by hand and handing debris out to other firefighters as they worked to rescue him.

They found another firefighter who was critically injured and worked to free him from the rubble

Returning to quarters

Smith eventually returned to Rescue 1’s firehouse early the following morning and they eventually realized the company had lost 11 members.

The survivors faced three missions: continue working at Ground Zero, supporting the families of the fallen and somehow rebuilding Rescue 1.

“We needed 11 new guys," he remembered thinking.

Smith recalled that they were working extended stretches while crews were reorganized into a new work shift schedule while attending funerals and memorial services, spending time with grieving families at the firehouse and daily trips to "the pile" at Ground Zero.

The firehouse, just a few blocks from Times Square, had a constant stream of visitors, people bringing food and supplies and those wanting to support the fallen by buying Rescue 1 shirts.

“Sometimes being on the pile was easier than the firehouse.”

A fire company without a rig

The company initially didn't have its own apparatus because Rescue 1 was crushed by a collapsing overpass. Eventually they received an well-run spare rescue rig. As they were rebuilding in the first weeks, Rescue 1 initially responded only to third alarms or greater at the orders of FDNY's senior commanders.

“That was awful. That’s just not what firefighters need — we needed to get back on the horse.”

New officers and firefighters began arriving at Rescue 1 for assignments. Much like Hatton's goal before he perished, experienced firefighters were mixed with younger members, creating a company that had to simultaneously honor the extraordinary experience that had been lost and prepare for the next emergency.

One message to the incoming members from veteran FDNY Rescue 1 firefighter—and Firehouse Hall of Fame Inductee— Paul Hashagen has stayed with Smith since that day.

During a company meeting, Hashagen told the members: “You got big shoes to fill, but I hope you brought your own.”

The rebuilding went far beyond staffing. Members handled memorials, supported families, rebuilt equipment inventories and resumed projects that had been underway before Sept. 11, including the design and delivery of the Rescue 1 apparatus Hatton had been designing. Smith said firefighters Jack Flatley and Joel Kansky picked up the project and carried it forward.

“Everybody just stepped up.”

A bittersweet promotion 

Smith remained at Rescue 1 until his promotion to lieutenant in 2004.

By then, he believed the company again had the experience, training and personnel necessary to fulfill its mission.

“The guys that came were a great mix of guys. Senior guys, super talented, 20-year guys. We were in a great place.”

The influence of Hatton and Rescue 1 followed has Smith throughout his career. Smith later returned to rescue operations as an officer and has worked to pass those lessons to younger firefighters.

“A rescue firefighter should be in a position to be proactive on the fireground, to help solve a problem before it becomes a mayday or a bigger problem. That’s the goal that I was taught there, and I’ve taught it ever since.”

Rebuilding the FDNY is no small task

For Smith, rebuilding the FDNY after Sept. 11 cannot be measured solely by apparatus, staffing or improved training. It is measured by whether today's firefighters have honored the people who came before them.

“I want those 11 guys, 343 guys, and the 450-plus guys who died since to know that we carried on their traditions and their mantra.”

Over the last 25, Smith said, “The job grew tenfold. Rigs got better, training got better. All that is good stuff. But I look at it more because I was a young guy. I really just hope that they feel like we did carry on the traditions of Rescue 1.”

Those traditions remain alive, Smith said, every time the stories of the fallen are shared with another generation.

“The youngest guy in any of the firehouses I’ve worked in, if I tell these stories, they’re eager to hear. They want to hear it.”

Twenty-five years later, that storytelling has become another part of rebuilding and ensuring that the firefighters who were lost remain part of the FDNY firehouses and traditions they helped create.

“It’s important that they hear it. It's getting passed along.”