10 Years Later: The 9/11 Terrorist Attack 'Feels Like it Happened Yesterday'

Deputy Chief Tim Ballis started his career with the Stillwater Fire Department the day after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Ballis had been in the fire service for 10 years, but had Sept. 11 off from his job with the Mahtomedi Fire Department and was gearing up to start with the Stillwater Fire Department the next day.

He was at home when terrorists attacked American soil and remembers watching the events unfold on national television.

“I saw the plane hit the World Trade Center and my first reaction was, ‘Wow, what an accident,’” Ballis said. “Then as I watched the news there was a plane that went into the Pentagon, another into a field and another into the World Trade Center.

“It was certainly an eerie feeling,” the deputy fire chief said. “The United States was pretty well protected from terrorist attacks when compared to places in the Middle East and Israel, so you just didn’t think stuff like that was going to happen on our home soil.”

Ballis said he was mesmerized by the news coverage—and speechless when thinking about how many civilians, firefighters, law enforcement officers and medics were inside the Twin Towers when they fell.

Buildings are generally made to withstand a fire, Ballis said. “Hindsight is 20/20 looking back at the reports, but we would do the same thing,” he said. “That’s what we do. When a building is on fire we would go in, hoof it up the steps and start working it. Without looking back, it’s pretty tough for anyone to say those buildings were going to fall.”

Ballis said he remembers thinking about how tragic is was for the civilians inside and the first responders rushing into the Twin Towers to help.

“My heart just dropped,” he said. “I felt for all of the people in there. The civilians who couldn’t get out; the firefighters battling the fire; the EMS, law enforcement officers and everyone in the area trying to get away from Ground Zero as it was filling with dust and debris. It was definitely a sad time in our nation’s history. I was speechless.”

And for firefighters, things have undoubtedly changed since that fateful day.

Before 9/11 firefighters never worried about events like that, Ballis said. Now it’s always in the back of the mind for firefighters whether they are responding to a fire or doing inspections.

“When you’re walking around, you’re always looking for something that looks suspicious,” he said. “It was certainly a change of culture for us.

“Now we’re always taking that extra protective step,” Ballis continued. “After 10 years it’s almost second nature—but we didn’t think like that before 9/11.”

The attacks have also changed the way responders work with other departments when it comes to interoperability and training when it comes to responding to explosions, chemical and biological threats and equipment.

There is medication on all the rigs in the case that firefighters are exposed to things like Anthrax, Ballis said. “Pre-9/11 that never existed.”

The events of Sept. 11, 2001 also brought a little more camaraderie between firefighters and police officers.

“In places across the United States, some police and fire departments get along and others don’t,” Ballis said. “But at times like that there’s no bickering. It’s one unison voice being heard and that’s what needs to happen.”

Ten years later, Ballis said the horrific attacks still feel like it happened yesterday.

“Ground Zero is still there,” he said. “We still train to and prevent it, but there are some things you will never prevent.”

The focus today, Ballis said, is to try and mitigate a situation if it does happen.