On September 11, 2001, New York City firefighter Sal Argano benefited from a stroke of luck. Rather than working at his regular station—a small Manhattan firehouse situated directly across an intersection from the Twin Towers—he was on temporary loan to another unit in Brooklyn when hijacked planes struck the World Trade Center.
Racing downtown, he discovered his firehouse badly damaged but still standing. He would later learn that six of his colleagues were among the 343 New York City firefighters killed in the collapse of the World Trade Center.
"If I wasn’t sent out on rotation there would have been a good chance I would not be here today," Argano says. "I think about that all the time."
Nearly 25 years later, Argano, now 65, remains on active duty at the firehouse—the final firefighter assigned there in 2001 who still works at the station.
Today, while the crews respond to emergency calls, the station also serves as an informal part of the 9/11 memorial, drawing crowds of tourists every day.
Some visitors stop specifically to view the large bronze relief along the side of the building, which lists the names of the firefighters killed on 9/11.
Others pause for selfies on their way to the National 9/11 Memorial plaza across the street, drawn by the sight of Engine 10 and Ladder 10, the gleaming trucks inside the garage that give the station its nickname: Ten House.
"This is definitely one of those companies where if you don’t want to ingratiate yourself to the public, it’s definitely not the right place," said Capt. Terence Brody, who commands Ladder 10 and has worked at the station since 2016. "People around the world know this firehouse. They’re going to come by and say hello."
Ten House served key roles during and after 9/11
Brody, now 55, was still in the fire academy on 9/11. Cadets grabbed their gear and were bused directly to ground zero.
The debris hung so densely in the air around the fallen towers that it appeared to be snowing, he recalled.
"It was a beautiful sunny Tuesday, and then you’re in this kind of apocalyptic atmosphere," Brody said. "It was a little overwhelming, to say the least."
In the days following the attack, Ten House served as both a command center and a safe haven for exhausted first responders, he said. As the years passed, its crew watched the neighborhood's rebirth from the front row.
Robert Favata joined Ladder 10 in 2008, straight out of the fire academy.
In those early years, he worked beside a massive pit filled with construction activity. Now 46, he looks out at a dramatically altered landscape.
A pair of waterfall pools now sit in the footprints of the original towers, framed by parapets etched with the names of nearly 3,000 victims. Below ground, the 9/11 Museum houses twisted steel beams, a crushed fire truck, and other relics. Modern skyscrapers surround the memorial plaza.
"When I got here, there was nothing," Favata says. "I never thought they were gonna finish."
Today, an endless stream of visitors stops at the firehouse
Argano can usually be found near the station's open bay doors, patiently answering questions, shaking hands, and posing for photographs.
He says Ten House firefighters have a unique responsibility: they act as living reminders of the events of 9/11 while also serving as the public face of the centuries-old FDNY.
Argano says he tries to impress on younger firefighters—many of whom were not yet born before the attacks—the need to treat every visitor with respect.
"This is not like any other firehouse," he said. "We have our fire duty, we have our responses, and then we have a responsibility toward the people outside."
He acknowledges that the task is not always simple. The crowds of curious tourists can be relentless, and their questions sometimes feel overly personal, insincere, or simply unusual.
For that reason, many of the younger firefighters tend to keep a lower profile, he noted.
After returning from an early morning response on a recent day, most of the crew headed to the back of the station to store equipment or upstairs to prepare lunch.
Argano, meanwhile, struck up a conversation with a firefighter visiting from France and his wife, before inviting them inside the station.
He pointed out a wall covered with patches donated by fire departments from around the globe over the years, as well as well-worn helmets hanging from the rafters.
At another point, however, a woman asked—perhaps a bit too casually—what makes Ten House so special.
Argano shrugged: "It’s just a fire station." After she walked away, he explained that it simply was not worth the effort.
"If I need to explain to you all of that, then it’s like, ‘Pull up a seat’," Argano said. "Let me get another cigarette. It’s gonna be a long one."
Ten House members reflect on 9/11 milestone
Favata views the approaching 25th anniversary as likely one of his last before retirement. Still, he worries whether he has done enough to keep Ten House alive.
"When I got here, so many of the guys worked 9/11 and they told me their stories of that day," Favata said, choking on tears. "I just hope I can give like a percentage of what they’ve told me to the younger guys."
Meanwhile, Brody handed in his retirement papers on Tuesday. His final day at the station will be in October.
"It’s interesting to think that my first day in the field was right across the street, and this is where I’m gonna end my career," said Brody, who writes screenplays in his spare time and has already had two of them turned into Hallmark Channel movies.
But Argano, who drives Engine 10, is not quite ready to retire. He fears something essential will be lost when no one remains who remembers that day firsthand.
"I’m not done. I’m gonna be here as long as I can," Argano said. "I’m going to keep telling them what I know, what I saw, what I’ve been through. Telling them the history of this firehouse. Everything I can remember."
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