some of the 343 New York City firefighters who perished<\/a> after running up into the flaming buildings in an effort to save lives stands out in his mind today.<\/p>\n\u201cIf we did find a fallen firefighter we were very respectful,\u201d began Kitahata.<\/p>\n
![\"Capt.](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1789016188_202_LDN-L-911LARESPONDERS-0910-02.jpeg\")
Capt. Thomas Kitahata, 63, of the L.A. City Fire Department, spent roughly two weeks as part of an urban search and rescue team sent from Los Angeles to 9\/11 \u2018Ground Zero\u2019 in New York City. (Photo Courtesy, Thomas Kitahata).<\/p>\n
His team would call in members of the FDNY to do the final dig out and recovery \u2014 a move of respect. \u201cSo they were able to uncover their brothers.\u201d he said. Sometimes they\u2019d call in members of his or her fire station or company.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey said a prayer. They did a salute. And then they\u2019d take him out,\u201d he remembered. \u201cIt was very solemn because we are all brothers and sisters in the fire service. We took it to heart.\u201d<\/p>\n
First impressions<\/p>\n
Both Willis and Kitahata flew on a military C-140 transport plane across the country and landed in a military base in New Jersey. The skies were empty due to complete shutdowns of all passenger flights.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe eeriest thing for me is that we were the only plane in the sky. We flew at night and when there was light, we looked out the window and saw we had fighter jets as escorts,\u201d said Kitahata.<\/p>\n
Kitahata, who was 38 during the mission, has had experience at other disasters. This one was different. The magnitude was far greater, he said. \u201cAnd this was a disaster at the hand of man. This is the thing that hit home for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Both remember their first glance into the dust-filled, hazy landscape known as The Pile, were the tallest skyscrapers came down in a giant pile of debris.<\/p>\n
Willis noticed the muted colors of death and destruction.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was surreal. It didn\u2019t look real,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe closer you started getting to \u2018Ground Zero,\u2019 the more the colors got monochrome. There was just a gray color of gray dust. And first off, we could see a big smoke plume as we were coming in,\u201d Willis added.<\/p>\n
For an area once filled with 100 floors in each building of offices, recognizing objects was nearly impossible.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember seeing no desks. No office furniture. One thing sticks out in my mind \u2014 a projector case and also internal pieces of hard drives. The rest was just dust and broken rubble,\u201d Willis said.<\/p>\n
Americans united<\/p>\n
Despite the grim task of finding buried bodies, sometimes body parts, that would be taken to a forensic team from the New York City Medical Examiner\u2019s Office for identification, the work was rewarding, Kitahata said.<\/p>\n
Some of that was knowing how they were answering the calls for help finding loved ones\u2019 remains. These were in the form of hand-written posters plastered on fences around The Pile\u2019s perimeter.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were hundreds of pictures with phone numbers saying: \u2018If you\u2019ve seen this person\u2019 or \u2018This person worked in this building.\u2019 We saw the lines of photos on the way in. They were hoping they\u2019d get some information on their loved ones,\u201d Kitahata remembered.<\/p>\n
Facing such a mammoth task, the team was pumped up on adrenaline, he said.\u00a0 Using cadaver dogs and special search cameras, the team would pay particular attention to holes in The Pile, called voids, he said.<\/p>\n
At just 5 feet, 6 inches, weighing 150 pounds, Kitahata became the guy who would crawl into the voids. \u201cThey\u2019d tie a rope to me and I\u2019d crawl in and try to find the bodies,\u201d he said. \u201cOne of the scariest places was going into a subway tunnel and crawling through water. You could smell the diesel fuel.\u201d<\/p>\n
New Yorkers and FDNY personnel were appreciative of the L.A. team\u2019s efforts.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe civilians brought us food. They had signs saying \u2018Thank You.\u2019 All those things were uplifting in such a bad time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Coming home<\/p>\n
The firefighting and rescue teams at 9\/11 in New York learned from each other, Willis said.<\/p>\n
In practical terms, Willis said the teams brought home the beginnings of better mapping, due to nascent use of GIS, Geographic Information Systems, in 2001.<\/p>\n
Mapping systems are now used to find the hot spots of a fire, or to locate exposed structures that may be more prone to catching fire.<\/p>\n
His experience helped translate into better alerts that residents of Los Angeles can sign up for that will ping your phone in case of an emergency, such as a wildfire. \u201cThat technology made us better.\u201d Willis said.<\/p>\n
Many firefighters continue to have respiratory challenges due to the breathing the dust from 9\/11. He gets an annual medical screening and so far he is cancer free, despite speaking with a hoarse voice at times. He also has a lump on his thyroid that is benign and has not changed.<\/p>\n
He still does volunteer work for the search and rescue squads. He teaches firefighters about the kind of teamwork he used during the 9\/11 task force. He also has helped support the newer teams\u2019 families, who are left behind for several weeks.<\/p>\n
When he retired from the fire department, he made a challenge coin with the words: \u201cOne Team, One Mission\u201d and gave them out to all his fellow firefighters, even those he met from other states.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy WTC team is one family. It is like a brotherhood and sisterhood that will always be there,\u201d he said. His 2001 team lost four members to cancer, he said.<\/p>\n
Kitahata will always remember the people in New York and their loyalty to their country.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was incredible how proud they were to be Americans. How proud for us to be there. We were representing L.A., but really, we were representing the United States,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He is a captain in First Station 69 in the Pacific Palisades. During the Palisades fire January 2025<\/a>, he worked 30 straight 24-hour days battling that deadly fire.<\/p>\nHis experience at the 9\/11 site in New York was the biggest emergency scene he ever worked in. But that big incident, or a small incident, are all important, especially to the person calling the fire department for assistance, he said. \u201cOur little deal is their big deal,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n
Willis continues his work prepping search and rescue squads and helping out their volunteer activities whenever he can.<\/p>\n
He wants people to know about the efforts from L.A. Fire and other first responders from California and other states to help people suffering large disasters. And not only on 25-year anniversaries.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to remember how this was, and what people did, and how people wanted to help. Twenty-five years later, it is all about \u2018never forget,\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
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![\"Rescue](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1789016187_475_LDN-L-911LARESPONDERS-0910-04.jpg\")
Rescue workers sift through the wreckage of the World Trade Center September 13, 2001 in New York City, two days after two hijacked airplanes slammed into the twin towers, levelling them in an alleged terrorist attack. (Photo by Mario Tama\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n![\"Retired](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1789016187_128_LDN-L-911LARESPONDERS-0910-03_d04d61.jpg\")
Retired L.A. City Fire Department firefighter Bubba Willis, 60, spent two weeks at 9\/11 \u2018Ground Zero\u2019 roughly from Sept. 12 through Sept. 26, 2001. He spent most of this time recovering bodies buried near where the South Tower of the World Trade Center collapsed, also known as \u2018The Pile.\u2019 (Photo Courtesy, Bubba Willis)<\/p>\n