For Easton's First Responders, Bin Laden's Death Recharges Emotions

When he awoke Monday morning, Lieutenant Thomas Nicholson was expecting another day at the office monitoring Easton for fire and medical emergencies. The Easton firefighter was scheduled to have a shift that afternoon.

But, when his wife, who was already awake, told him that the subject of that day's lead news story, Nicholson knew that day would be much better than normal.

"She said to me that Osama bin Laden had been killed," he said. "It started my day off nice. It was great news to hear that. Waking up to hear that, it put a smile on my face."

Nicholson was a firefighter nearly ten years ago when Bin Laden had masterminded the largest attack ever on American soil that killed nearly 350 firefighters and almost 50 police officers in New York City. On that day, the sentiment was much different. Easton firefighters and police officers watched helplessly as many with their same profession lost their lives.

For many first responders, who understand the protocol and procedures while entering an emergency situation, the sight of the twin towers crumbling to the ground on Sept. 11, 2001 still remains fresh in their minds.

"I can remember being a safe haven watching it from my living room in Easton," Fire Chief said. "You just knew – you knew what they were doing. And, when you saw that first tower fall, its like seeing them perish before your eyes."

Stone became the Easton chief in 2002 - the year after the towers fell. For his entire tenure as chief Bin Laden had been at-large. He said, from a first responder's standpoint, the capture of Al Quaida's leader brings some closure to the situation, but for the many families, there is no bringing back their firefighter or police officer family member.

"There were a lot of families that made huge sacrifices," he said. "Obviously, I think this does help to bring some closure to the situation in knowing that the mastermind behind it has had some justice."

Now an Easton firefighter, Stone's son Darren began his first day at EMT school on Sept. 11. He said that while about half the class arrived that day, the class time was spent watching the news and seeing the struggles of many firefighters and police officers in New York.

"My father is in the fire service so it hits you at home - knowing that firefighters are going in there," he said.

Easton Police Chief , who watched almost 50 New York police officers die, said he hopes the Bin Laden capture brings closure and an end to Bin Laden's organization.

"I was very glad to see the largest manhunt in history end the way it did," said Krajcik. "I hope that this demoralizes Al-Qaida enough so that it ceases to exist."

Monday was a "good day for America," President Barack Obama said Monday. For Easton's emergency officials, they couldn't have agreed more.

While firefighters and police officers deal with quite a bit of hardships on a day-to-day basis, Bin Laden's death on Monday made that day quite a bit easier, Nicholson said.

"We see a lot of people get killed in our profession and we don’t like to see that sort of thing," he said. "But its nice to see someone that ruined a lot of peoples’ lives.. it’s nice to see...he was evading capture for so long. It's pretty sweet."