Security professionals were casualties of the terrorist attacks

Nov 1, 2001 12:00 PM

EMPLOYEES OF SUMMIT SECURITY SERVICES INC.

Summit Security Services Inc. is a contract security guard company providing services throughout New York, New Jersey, Westchester and Long Island. The company, which employs more than 2,000 security officers, provides nearly three million hours of security coverage annually to clients including The U.S. Tennis Association, NBC, Gucci and Columbia and Fordham Universities.

A staff of more than 400 officers from Summit Security Services had secured the World Trade Center facilities since 1996, including Towers 1 and 2 and WTC buildings four and five. On Sept. 11, nearly 100 officers were in place, overseeing access control, alarm and safety operations. Of those 100 officers, more than 45 were injured, killed or are still among the missing.

Ronald G. Hoerner, 58, of New York was a retired New York State Police investigator. An employee since 1995, Hoerner was the resident security manager for the World Trade Center facilities. He was last seen going down to the operations control center, one story below ground level. The control center, where the staff would gather in times of emergency, is said to have also been a meeting place for Port Authority managers and supervisors.

In an emergency, Hoerner would evacuate from B-level, where the operations control center was located. He is survived by his wife Barbara.

Francisco Cruz Sr., 47, of Staton Island, N.Y., worked on the Concourse level of building five. He was an access control officer who did not get out before the building collapsed.

Samuel Fields, 36, of New York was an alarm response officer who worked in the security control center of Tower 1 on the 22nd floor. He was evaluating and responding to alarms in the building, clearing the passage ways and opening exit doors.

Larry Bowman, 46, of Brooklyn, N.Y. was assigned to the operations control center under Tower 2.

Daniel Lugo, 45, of New York, worked in the lobby of Tower 2 as an access control officer. He was a pastor of a Pentecostal church in New York, and is survived by his wife.

Robert Martinez, 24, of Long Island, N.Y., was an access control officer at the Concourse level of building five. He was last seen in Tower 2 helping others evacuate the building.

Jorge Morron, 38, of Jackson Heights, Queens, N.Y., was assigned to the Concourse level between Towers 1 and 2. He was a security officer who controlled access to a major freight elevator.

Esmerlin Salcedo, 36, of the Bronx, N.Y., was an off-duty security officer who was attending classes at a local school, just two blocks from the World Trade Center facilities. After getting word of the attack on Tower 1, Salcedo left school to help volunteer. He was last seen at the operations control center after evacuating several people. He is survived by a wife and children.

Ervin Gailliard, 42, of the Bronx, N.Y., was a post-relief officer at Tower 2.

Denny Conley, 44, of Brooklyn, N.Y., was an access control officer for the shopping center at the Concourse level of building five.

Godwin Ajala, 33, of Queens, N.Y., worked at the Concourse level of building five as an access control officer.

Summit Security Services Inc. hoped to reach out to the families of these victims at a memorial service it planned on Oct. 23 at Riverside Church in Manhattan. Says George Taylor, security manager for Summit Security's World Trade Center facilities, “It didn't make any difference what kind of uniform they wore that day — whether police, fire department or security guard — they were just doing their jobs, and they'll be missed.”

RICHARD RESCORLA

One year ago in October, Richard Rescorla, 62, earned his CPP certification. Rescorla, however, was so busy with his duties at the World Trade Center that he never got the chance to collect a plaque at a presentation from his ASIS northern New Jersey chapter.

Now, Rescorla's plaque will finally be presented to his wife, Susan, at a special ceremony honoring his achievements as a security professional and the sacrifice he made on Sept. 11.

Rescorla was first vice president of security for Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. He was a hero after the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, as he was on Sept. 11. The story of his heroism was told by actor Robin Williams during the America: A Tribute to Heroes broadcast worldwide.

Rescorla knew the outlook was grim after the two planes smashed into the World Trade Center towers. He called his wife about 20 minutes before the towers collapsed and told her he loved her, and that he had to continue helping evacuate the building.

“His law-enforcement experience and maturity guided him on what he needed to do,” says Herb Simon, chairman of the northern New Jersey chapter of ASIS from 1993-1994. “The world was crumbling around him, but he still had the presence of mind to call his wife, and he knew his duty afterward. It's just tragic.”

Rescorla became a member of ASIS in 1999 as a resident of Morristown, N.J. He is survived by his wife and two children.

JAMES CORRIGAN

James Corrigan had been employed by Silverstein Properties Inc., in the World Trade Center twin towers since 1995.

Silverstein Properties bought the long-term lease on the towers in July 2001, and Corrigan was security and fire safety director at Seven World Trade Center, a two million square-foot 47-story building that was one of the accompanying buildings to the Twin Towers. Building Seven collapsed in the afternoon on Sept. 11.

Corrigan, a resident of Little Neck, N.Y., joined ASIS in Feb. 2000 as a member of the New York City chapter.

JOHN FISHER

John Fisher was a full-time engineering consultant for Nanotek Inc., working on security and environmental systems projects at The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. He was responsible for quality assurance for the security and life-safety systems in the World Trade Center twin towers. He was also one of the few people with a security pass that allowed entrance into the emergency Operations Control Center in the first basement level of Tower Two. He was given the pass not because he was assigned any operational duties, but because he required access to all points of emergency system operation for initial and periodic testing of the systems.

Fisher's desk was on the 71st floor of World Trade Center Tower One, where Fisher was part of the Security and Access Control group of the Technology Services Department. Fisher had worked for the Port Authority for more than five years.

Fisher consulted on several projects for the Port Authority including: LaGuardia, Newark International, and JFK International airport security systems; World Trade Center life safety and security systems; George Washington Bridge, Holland Tunnel and Lincoln Tunnel intrusion detection and security systems; Lincoln Tunnel supervisory control systems (SCADA); Port Authority Bus Terminal life safety systems; and Newark International Airport monorail system.

Fisher attended the New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, N.J., for more than 10 years as a student in the electrical engineering program. He worked full time and went to school part time in order to best support his family of seven children, ages 6 through 16.

Fisher was not a Port Authority employee. However, on Sept. 11, he was in a car departing the World Trace Center when the first plane struck. He told the driver, “Circle around to the front entrance. I have to go back in. I know those systems. I can help.”

Fisher was last seen a few minutes before the collapse of Tower Two.

“John Fisher was a good friend of mine,” says Ray Bernard, a security consultant and former security director for the FAA. “I worked with John on several Port Authority projects. All who worked with John knew him as someone whose work you could count on. John was usually given the most critical tasks and the most in-depth technical assignments, due to the reliability of his work. John had a great depth of expertise in electrical and electronic control systems, and electronic security.”

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© 2012 Penton Media Inc.

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