By Joyce Kryszak
Buffalo, NY –
It was on a cold and foggy night one year ago when fight 3407 fell from the sky into the quiet rural community of Clarence Center. The disaster claimed the lives of 50 people. But it also forever changed the lives of everyone touched by the tragedy. For many of the local first responders the vivid memories are still fresh - and still painful.
We know now that this recording from air traffic control was actually the first emergency dispatch that went out. It was the first in what would be a night filled with calls for help. Michael Rogowski is the new Chief of the Clarence Center Fire Department. Shaking his head slightly, Rogowski said he can still hear every detail of that first dispatch call every time an alarm goes off.
And those haunting reminders are endless. The fire hall was the first to respond because it is a mere 725 feet from the site of the crash. The crash is now an indelible part of their history.
Rogowski shows us the wall filled with photos and plaques commending the fire department for their leadership in handling the disaster. Clarence Center Assistant Chief Timothy Norris was the first one the scene.
He tells us about it as he peers ahead and rubs together his rugged hands. Norris his wife and four year-old son live on Maple Street within sight of the crash. His wife Melissa watched from their living room window as the plane crashed into their neighbor's home. Norris was there within seconds. His wife soon followed. You see, she's a firefighter too. But Norris says it has been a little harder for her to cope with the trauma of that night.
She was by no means the only one who had trouble shaking the experiences from the grueling weeklong recovery process. Dave Bissonette is the emergency coordinator for the town of Clarence. His calm demeanor and thirty years of experience quickly made him the go-to person as the magnitude of the tragedy unfolded and the media converged. But Bissonette said it remains pretty raw for him too.
Bissonette and others talk about trying to cope with the huge crushing sadness. Their own and the sadness of the victims families.
Steven Nigrelli is a captain with the New York State Police. He was there from the beginning, fighting back his own haunting images. What he saw, what he heard. The overwhelming sight of the fireball and the profound image of police standing guard through the night like a sentry. But it is when Nigrelli tells us about being sent to talk to the families for the first time that his gray blue eyes tear.
Nigrelli swore to protect the site for those families, until their loved ones could be taken away with dignity and respect. He kept that promise. It was Diane Vertes who helped him to.
Vertes is the deputy chief medical examiner for Erie County. The petite woman wrapped in layers of clothes to stay warm working twelve hours each day at the site. She made sure the remains were taken back to the medical examiner's office. And there she worked for five weeks making identifications.
Vertes said they held prayers services every day to get through it. And she said all work stopped so they could pay honor to the victims. Vertes and the others said they came to depend upon the chaplin corps and the stress debriefing teams to get through those difficult days and months to follow.
Greg Skibitsky is Commissioner of Emergency Services for Erie County. He said their disaster plan includes a full stress reduction team of mental health professionals and clergy. That team was on the scene from the beginning and remains on call for whoever needs them. And Skibitsky said the family of first responders always stand ready to help one another.
Friday morning many of the first responders will join the victims' families in a ten-mile walk from the crash site to the airport. They will share their grief and remembrance of the tragedy of flight 3407.