By Emme Hornung
Returning from the 2023 edition of the 9/11 Aviation Adventure Speaker Series, retired FDNY Deputy Chief Charles R. Blaich brings with him colleague and friend Dr. Michael Fagel, an emergency management specialist who worked alongside Blaich to ensure the safety and smooth operations of recovery and cleanup following the 2001 terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers. Learn more about their experience on ground zero and managing the aftermath through their presentation at the EAA Aviation Museum on Wednesday, September 11, at 7 p.m.
Charles R. Blaich served in the Marine Corps for 30 years before retiring as a colonel, then served the New York City Fire Department as deputy chief of department until his retirement in 2004. Charles responded to the attacks immediately despite being on bed rest from a recent surgery. For the five months to follow, he was given the assignment of logistics chief, meeting with 72 city, state, and federal agencies each morning to assign jobs, organize supply distribution, determine hazmat operations, and plot where cranes could safely be placed for cleanup.
Michael Fagel received a doctorate in disaster management from Columbia Southern University, and has more than 40 years of experience in police, fire, emergency medical services, and emergency management. Mike arrived on scene on September 14 after being called in by the U.S. Department of Justice. “My mission was to go there and help do anything that was asked of me. It didn’t matter what patch was on our sleeve, it mattered that we were helping people in the worst time of their lives,” he said.
Charles, Mike, and aide Lee Morris made up the “Three Musketeers,” working as a close-knit team for months. “Charlie and Lee and I, we did everything and anything. Midnight, three in the morning, six in the morning. Whatever it was, we worked to make sure what was going on was being done safely,” Mike said. “We wrote plans, procedures, and my mission was to keep them operational. Our job was to keep them rolling.”
“My mission in life is to teach as many people about September 11, have them understand what we did, have them pass it on to their families,” Mike said. “When I was a paramedic, climbing out the back of an ambulance, I was helping one person at a time. [By teaching], I can help an entire community learn and be better prepared.”
Of the 2,977 victims of the attack, hundreds of public servants’ lives were lost. “The whole purpose of this This slideshow could not be started. Try refreshing the page or viewing it in another browser.
