MIAMI (WSVN) – In September 2001, 72 local firefighters were called to help after the attacks. Robert Suarez and his father, who shares the same name, were among those who answered.<\/p>\n
Suarez said his journey to that moment was years in the making because he grew up going to work with his father at Miami-Dade Fire Rescue. <\/p>\n
\u201cAs a young child, I was a victim in rubble piles, being searched for and simulated, dogs trying to find me in the rubble,\u201d Suarez said. <\/p>\n
He followed in his father\u2019s footsteps and became a firefighter at City of Miami Fire Rescue. He and his father were both working at different departments on the same fateful day in our country\u2019s history. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt was just a matter of a few hours before I realized not only is this something that I\u2019m watching on TV, this is something we\u2019re getting called for,\u201d Suarez said. <\/p>\n
They got called to the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. Suarez, who was 24-years-old at the time, remembers pulling other first responders from the rubble. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe were able to bring him out intact,\u201d Suarez said. \u201cWe weren\u2019t able to do that with everybody there.\u201d <\/p>\n
He worried how his father was doing, after not seeing him or hearing from him for days. Luckily, he ran into someone from his father\u2019s team.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said \u2018Hey, your father is on the other side, he just took a meal break. You can go see him at over at this cafe,\u2019 that was feeding some of the responders right outside the rubble pile, and I think that\u2019s where we first met,\u201d Suarez said. <\/p>\n
Their first meeting in New York was captured by a disposable camera. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt was pretty crazy, you know, there was a lot going on at that moment,\u201d Suarez said. <\/p>\n
Twenty-five years later, City of Miami Fire Rescue continues its promise to never forget September 11 with a memorial\u2013 a beam from the World Trade Center.<\/p>\n
Suarez\u2019s father has reminders of his own at home, including the radiation mask he used. <\/p>\n
He has been battling brain cancer for the last three years, and believes it is linked to his World Trade Center response. He says he is part of the World Trade Center Health Program, which has covered his medical bills. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt is what it is. I\u2019m not saying it is the tools of the trade, but it comes along with the job,\u201d Suarez\u2019s father said. \u201cIt is not a job. Firefighting is not a job, it is a career. It is a blessing if you get hired to be a firefighter.\u201d <\/p>\n
A man who once fought fires is now fighting a disease. Meanwhile, his son continues to serve, hoping to make his father, city, and country proud. <\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.<\/p>\n
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